


A Tactician's Trust

by gatekat, Verilidaine



Series: The Victor's Duty [2]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-War, M/M, Mech Preg, dubcon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-01-26 21:17:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 118,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1702838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verilidaine/pseuds/Verilidaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the end of the war to his deactivation, Prowl gives life to many new citizens before claiming his final prize.  Along the way he finds love in unexpected places, and doesn't always see the truth in time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setting the Stage

**Author's Note:**

> The Decepticons also have a view on rape in line with [Justice by Kinkmeme Anon](http://tfanonkink.livejournal.com/11556.html?thread=14066980#t14066980)

Starscream scowled, flexed his wings, and carefully peered into the room Prowl was being held in. The high security facilities still strove to make their prisoners comfortable, and he had a soft berth, a desk, a vid screen and access to public materials. Any prisoner of war should be happy here, considering the frequent alternatives. But the Praxian certainly didn't _look_ happy. In fact, Prowl looked downright blank as he sat in the middle of the room, aft on his pedes, hand on his knees and his doorwings hung so low they were almost hidden behind his chassis.

As Starscream watched he tried to remember what he knew of the Autobot and came up with very little. As often as Prowl was cursed for his tactics and skill at predicting attacks, even Soundwave's official intel file had very little on him of any use.

One of the last of the Vector Sigma lots, Prowl had been built, coded, sparked, trained and used as law enforcement of one kind of another his entire existence. He was exactly the kind of mecha the revolution was intended to help, yet his loyalty coding prevented him from seeing it. The question now was without a Prime, government or city to follow, what would that coding prod Prowl into doing? And would he put up much resistance? 

Starscream certainly hoped not. He wanted the Autobot Seeker scientist, not this flat, affectless drone. Prowl wasn't even attractive by any standards Starscream knew. It made him pause as he briefly wondered if Prowl even had the protocols needed. His frame had the parts or he wouldn't have been on the list, but that didn't always mean he had the coding. Not even Soundwave could get into those processors enough to find out, never mind Hook.

He swiped his hand over the entrance pad, entered the authorization code, and stepped inside. "Hello," he said, and produced a cube of good energon. Despite Prowl's best efforts, he couldn't hide his hunger from the seeker watching him carefully.

"Starscream." Prowl straightened his backstrut just a bit more but otherwise didn't move as he met Starscream's rich scarlet optics with pale blue ones. "You will get nothing from me."

Starscream handed him the cube as he knelt down on the floor. "I'm not trying to get anything from you," he said, shrugging his wings. "I'm trying to give something _to_ you."

"Why?" Prowl asked. His fingers twitched as he regarded the energon suspiciously before taking it to drink. Survival needs overrode suspicion every time and he needed the energy.

"Look, right to the point, population's slagged," Starscream said. "All the carriers are Autobots. You're one of them."

The violent twitch of Prowl's frame spoke more eloquently than any words of just what he expected of his future now. "You must truly be desperate to use me."

" _I_ didn't want to use you," Starscream said, flicking one wing dismissively. "But I don't actually have a choice. There are immense social and emotional benefits to carrying, so why don't you just make this easier on both of us and choose a Decepticon you'd like as a mate?"

"Detail the benefits." Prowl didn't hide both his distaste and suspicion, but he was listening. It was more than he gave those who were normally interrogators and Starscream knew it.

"Um." Starscream didn't know, what made carriers want to carry? "For one, you'll get all the medical and nutritional care you could want." He at least knew that much. "And, uh, the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to the betterment of our kind?"

"If I believed Decepticons could better our kind I would have sided with you in the war." Prowl informed him coldly. "Barricade or Thundercracker."

Starscream narrowed his optics at him. "That's it? That easy?" Prowl just looked back and Starscream shrugged and stood up. "Fine, have it your way with one of those losers." He started to head for the door. 

:: _Starscream!_ ::

Starscream flinched. ::Yes, Lord Megatron?::

::That is not what I told you to do. I need _your_ spark and influence with the Praxian's. Not Thundercracker's, not Barricade's, _yours._ ::

::But Lord Megatron--!::

:: _Yours!_ ::

Starscream hissed, extended his claws, forcefully slid them back, then turned back to Prowl. "Change in plans, I will be the sire."

"This is payback for the trouble you've caused him," Prowl told him evenly.

Starscream glared at him. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You're no treat yourself." He sat back down on the floor, lounging back. "So whaddya say?"

Prowl made a sound that might have been a laugh. "You ask as if there's a choice." His gaze hardened. "I can't stop you from taking. I will not give."

Starscream frowned, cocked his head, and sat back up. "But ... What?" He leaned forward, peering at Prowl. "You think I'm just going to _make_ you?"

"Yes." Prowl actually shrugged. "Megatron's forcing you. Why would a prisoner expect anything better?"

"You're _sick_ ," Starscream snapped. "I'm sure you think that's just fine, then, is it? No wonder you lost. Fragging _Autobots._ "

"It was against the law. You destroyed the law. Why would you respect any of the old ways you rebelled against?" Prowl asked evenly. "I am simply realistic. I am a prisoner. There is no one to rescue me and no one to barter for my freedom. I have no rights I am not given and no prospects for the future."

"Rebelling against institutionalized inequality and classism doesn't make us savages," Starscream said. "Do you even realize what would happen to me if I _did_ that?"

"Clearly I do not." Prowl pointed out.

"Well I wouldn't be siring anyone, that's for sure," Starscream said, rolling his optics. He thought for a moment, then shuddered. "The punishment for _that_ is grotesque. It fits the crime. Just because we're keeping you here doesn't mean we own your frame."

Prowl fell silent for several long kliks before filing the information away with a note as to the source and likely validity.

"Then you have a problem for the next two and a half decaorns." Prowl said calmly.

Starscream scowled. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You're smart. I'm sure you'll work it out." Prowl actually gave a small smile. It was a look on him that was far more disturbing than reassuring and he knew it.

"Is this some freaky thing with your processors?" Starscream asked, peering at him. "You need to defrag before you can kindle or 'face or something?"

Prowl cocked his helm slightly. "No."

"Hmph." Starscream crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, I _will_ find out." Prowl had the same look on his face that Thundercracker often did right before running out of patience with him and withdrawing to brood. Well if Prowl wasn't going to be practical about the whole thing, Starscream could be patient. He stood up. "I'll be back later. Is there anything you desire that I can bring you?"

"Information." Prowl's tone went slightly submissive. "Who has survived."

Starscream paused to look at him, wings lowering slightly at the request he hadn't expected. "Of course," he said. "Is there anyone in particular? I might know already." 

"Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Trailbreaker, Red Alert and Jazz." Prowl kept his voice even and his frame still. It hurt to think about, but he needed to know.

Well, three of those were on the list of confirmed carriers, so Starscream at least knew about them. "Bluestreak, Red Alert and Jazz survived, but I don't know their condition," he said. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about Smokescreen and Trailbreaker. I'll bring more detailed information when I come back."

"Thank you." Prowl responded, watching Starscream leave and lock the door behind him.

For Starscream, keeping half an optic's worth of attention on the visual/audio feed from the Praxian's cell was as dull as watching paint dry, only there was even less action.

He made it back to his quarters and through barely a quarter of the work that Soundwave had left for him before he fired off an irritated comm to Megatron, unable to stand watching the motionless Praxian any longer. ::He's never going to want me! How dare you trap me like this!::

::No one is having an easy time.:: Megatron replied sweetly. ::Be thankful I didn't suggest you try and tame Sunstreaker for me.::

::Oh, frag you,:: Starscream said. ::That demon isn't going to have you anyway. I hope he bites your equipment off.::

Megatron laughed, a deep, rich sound full of good humor and cut the connection.

Starscream scowled and returned to his work after sending a request over to Soundwave for a full list of Autobot survivors and their conditions.

* * *

Starscream waited a few orns before going back to see Prowl again, spending most of that time with the feed from the security cameras in that room pulled up. Pulling Skywarp into his office for a quick tumble was the only time it was off, and when he flipped it back on, nothing had changed. 

In fact, nothing changed, _ever_. Except when Prowl was given rations, which Starscream couldn't help but notice largely went into his subspace. That was strange, and a little disconcerting. Also, he didn't seem to recharge. Starscream wanted to find out how he liked to relax, and as far as he could tell, the mech didn't know _how_ to do anything other than kneel in the middle of the room. 

It was frustratingly boring. 

He walked in without announcing himself and was rewarded with nothing more than a slight brightening of pale blue optics as they focused on the movement. "Hello," he greeted, and handed Prowl another cube of good energon. This time he was sure he saw the mech waver slightly before drinking. What he couldn't tell was whether the waver was from a back of energy or an internal fight over whether to drink.

"Hello, Starscream," Prowl replied when he'd consumed his now-standard 1/8th of the cube and set it down.

Starscream shifted back and forth on his pedes for a moment before pulling a datapad out. It was loaded with all current known information on the Autobots--who had survived, the condition they were in, who had deactivated. "Smokescreen and Trailbreaker did not survive. Bluestreak is physically well but refuses to power offline, and he's having hallucinations. Red Alert is, by all appearances, online, but he has not moved and appears to be caught in a much deeper glitch. Jazz is still in stasis, and being repaired." He handed the datapad over.

Prowl accepted it and scanned it at a speed that even Starscream found fast. "Bluestreak was a youngling and watched Praxus fall from district seven. He's incapable of recharging alone." He finished reading the list. "Red Alert must be shut down into medical stasis and brought up in a carefully controlled manner. There are three mecha I know who have the coding and skill to do so. Withholding treatment will burn his processors out in roughly six more orns. He will have already suffered irreparable damage."

"Who are the three mecha?" Starscream asked as he sat down next to Prowl.

"Ratchet, First Aid and myself." Prowl answered. "Any Decepticon with full medical coding is also likely to have the skill."

"Then I will forward the information to Hook," Starscream said. "Thank you. And I will let Sirocco know about Bluestreak, he's taken an interest in him." He cocked his head at Prowl. "Why Autobots?"

"The Decepticons destroyed my city, my function, my people. Everything I valued," he couldn't quite keep the static from his voice or his hands from tightening against his knees despite trying very hard to. "I joined the side opposing them."

Starscream nodded. He'd lead their forces in the destruction of Praxus, there was nothing to argue against. "What do you imagine for your life now?"

Pale blue optics looked up and met his with an eerie calm. "Nothing. Of the five options I deem plausible none hold more or less appeal than the others."

"Being stuck in this room for the rest of your life holds the same appeal as deactivation?" Starscream asked with some surprise.

"All options end in deactivation," Prowl said with something of a shrug. "Some are sooner than others. None are what I would deem pleasant."

"So what are the five options, then?" Starscream asked with a frown.

"Public execution when I have been deemed more trouble than I am worth or a point needs to be made. Bred until my spark gives out. Starvation when resources become tight once more. Escape. Suicide." Prowl listed them off calmly.

"But not the one that I'm offering," Starscream said, annoyed. "No one is going to breed you until your spark gives out." He paused, then smirked. "Unless that's how you _want_ to go out."

"Then what are you offering?" Prowl asked.

"The chance for a useful civilian life," Starscream said. "You don't even have to create to get it. That just helps. Megatron genuinely wants equality for _all_ mecha."

The Praxian simply stared at him for the longest time before he eventually shook his helm. "As nice an idea as that is in theory, surely you must realize that it's not possible. Not every enemy can be allowed to walk free."

"Of course not," Starscream said. "Some are far too violent. The ones who will live as peaceful, productive civilians can do so, once they're trusted."

Prowl let out a soft sigh and looked at the seeker with something close to pity. "Starscream, even if I could be trusted, whatever that actually means, I was the leader of the losing side when it ended. It is political suicide to allow me to be freed." He settled back into his habitual posture. "Even if Megatron was willing to risk it, it will still lead to my deactivation within three decaorns by either his forces or my own. Most likely my own. I was not well liked when things were going well. That I surrendered has made me a traitor to them all. I only had a sixteen percent probability of reaching this cell after all. They will not miss the next opportunity."

Starscream cocked his helm and shrugged. "If you say so. You know you _could_ just create with me and then be left alone in here."

Prowl shifted his gaze and considered the seeker. "You would risk exposing your spark to me, knowing I have nothing to lose in killing you?"

"I'm not exactly some helpless young thing," Starscream said dryly. "I'm doing what I've been told to in order to rebuild. If that's the risk I have to take, then yes."

Prowl hummed his acceptance and settled once more, his attention turning inward.

Starscream glared at him and decided that was as good a point as any to end the conversation and left. ::Soundwave,:: he snapped on his way out. The buzz of an open comm frequency was his only response. ::Are Prowl's personal quarters in Autobot headquarters still intact?::

::Affirmative.::

::Fine. Organize and submit all the documentation I'll need to get in,:: Starscream said. ::Inform me when I may leave.::

::Understood,:: Soundwave replied before ending the call.

* * *

Starscream walked carefully through the scarred and damaged hallways of what remained of the Autobot's headquarters in Iacon. It was as he remembered from three decaorns before. Most of the damage was down the main entrance and through the command spaces. He remembered vividly the sight of Prowl, then the commander of the Autobots, on his knees in submission before Megatron. It wasn't a pleading look either, not the way most who knelt before Megatron looked. The mech had fought hard and it showed on his frame. He'd surrendered when it was clear he couldn't win and done so to save what had remained of his forces.

The memories shoved away, Starscream walked into the officer's barracks. It was a space that had all but been untouched. It had been searched, but as expected for a battle on base no one had been in their quarters. The door slid open at the code Starscream had been given and he stepped into a space far simpler than he'd expected. It was a single room, barely seven paces by four. No separate berthroom, no private washrack, not even something that Starscream would call a seating area. There was an airframe berth taking up the left wall and a third of the room's depth. A small desk commanded the wall across from the only door and on the right wall was a modest vid screen with a chair that Starscream was sure was specialized for Prowl's frametype in front of it. Above the desk and berth were a few shelves with odds and ends, bookfile pads small boxes.

As he stepped further in he realized that there was a piece of artwork on the wall at the foot of the berth. Belatedly he placed it as a visual of the Helix Garden and central Praxus beyond and around it. Of everything he saw, that one piece was seriously out of place. The quality was far in excess of anything else in the room. He walked over to it and touched the frame, then checked to see if it would come easily off the wall. It did, and he set it aside to be brought back. For a mech with so little, this had obviously been valued. 

His attention turned to the shelves above the desk and he stepped over to them, starting with the bookfiles. Histories, tactical manuals and treaties, theology, linguistic and cultural studies...this bookshelf probably held half of the surviving knowledge of their race. All dry and little of it useful anymore, but it spoke clearly of what Prowl enjoyed in his free time. While the vid center was likely something that came with the room, knowledge and art were what Prowl had brought. He continued to scan titles and paused at the first title on the lowest shelf over the berth.

_On the Wings of Honor_

That title even Starscream knew. It was fiction, the first in a series of nine by one of the most revered Vosian writers in history, but far more importantly, it was not a translated copy. Even the title was in Vosian, meaning it had been created for the city's market and not picked up elsewhere. 

Red optics brightened somewhat and Starscream picked it up, feeling a sharp pang of loss for his home as he touched the cover, and then cued up the first chapter. He intended to skim the words he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime, but without even being fully aware of moving, ended up cross legged on the floor, soaking in every glyph.

It was joors later that he finally moved again, once he finished the book, and looked back up to the shelf. The rest of the series was there, all eight titles in the same language and glyphwork as the first.

They were all slipped into his subspace as he scanned the rest of the shelf. There were important works of fiction from throughout history and from every major city, all in their original languages. The shelf above it held bookfiles of artwork now long destroyed. One was even a holoprojector type for statues and other 3-dimensional images.

He turned back to the desk and the two personal items there. A small crystal statue of a Praxian Enforcer saluting and a nice, though far from extravagant holo-display.

He took the art records and the statue of the Praxian, scanned over the rest of the books and selected a few to take back. That done, he turned to the holo-display and examined it for a few moments before figuring out how to turn it on. It powered up with simple Praxian glyphs asking if he wished to view by date, random order or select a specific image slot to display.

Starscream cocked his helm, and selected the earliest file. It came to life with the grainy, slightly fuzzy quality of a memory file not tagged as important until several vorns after its creation, but it was clear enough. Vector Sigma and a line of half a dozen others, all Praxian Enforcers. Every one looked absolutely identical to Prowl at this quality, though Starscream knew there would be small differences in facial structure and later in markings. Distant from the line was another Praxian and the priest who'd summoned the new sparks to their fully functional adult frames.

Memories. 

Starscream skimmed through a few more in chronological order, seeing more of the same, and then asked the display to show him random files. The first to appear was the brightly smiling face of an Enforcer as he leaned in to claim a kiss from a very shy Prowl. It wasn't a memory, but an image capture someone else had given to him.

Another showed the Helix Garden in all its glory. 

An official capture from the ceremony when Prowl had been promoted to Shift Sergeant. 

A funeral if Starscream was reading it right. The ground looked like sacred land. There was no frame there, no smelter, but formal mourning was formal mourning no matter the trappings. No Cybertronian culture had drifted that far away from their common roots.

A high quality memory file of an Enforcer, recharging on a double flier's berth. The mech looked thoroughly debauched and was smiling at the viewer. The statue that Starscream had just placed in his subspace was on a small shelf above the berth along with a handful of bookfiles.

Starscream watched for about twenty kliks, pausing a few times to look at some of the more complex scenes, and then glanced at his chronometer and switched the display off. After a moment of thought, he stashed that into his subspace as well. It was likely valuable to Prowl, but it was _invaluable_ to Starscream to know Prowl as a civilian. It might even show him what Autobots, if any, he was closer to than most.

For the first time, he actually mildly looked forward to the next meeting with his assigned charge.

* * *

Prowl was exactly where Starscream had left him, though he was much more settled. It bode well for his reaction to the first gift Starscream was going to give him.

"Hello," he said, but he spoke in Vosian, the same dialect as the books he'd taken.

"Hello," Prowl replied in Vosian. His accident was noticeable, but he was clear enough. It even drew his doorwings out to set in their usual place before he'd been caged. "What is your proper designation?"

"Starscream," he trilled it with all the harmonics and wingset. It was enjoyable to hear it again, to say it because he was asked. Not even his trine bothered with it anymore. He set out his customary cube of energon, then gestured for the painting of the Helix Gardens to be brought in. He'd covered it, and the Cons helping him quickly scurried away once they set it down. Starscream looked back at Prowl. "I brought something for you," he said carefully, indicating that he wasn't sure how the gift would be received. 

Prowl's doorwings lifted, curious as he regarded the object. "A framed image?"

Starscream canted his wings in affirmative. "Where did you learn Vosian?" he asked, staying with Vosian.

"Primarily by download, as I did with most dialects. I learned each to read more than to speak," Prowl continued in the language he was addressed in. "Information is always lost in translation."

"It is," Starscream said, thrilled to be speaking with his full Vosian capabilities. "Vosian is particularly beautiful, if I do say so." He fingered the edge of the painting, playing with the cover. "Have you ever seen performance poetry in Vosian?"

"Once," Prowl's doorwings shivered with the memory, and it was a very good memory. "I managed to arrange a ten orn vacation to Vos so I could witness the first two orns of the Rite of the Storm Flight. I attended as many cultural displays as I could beforehand. It was amazing."

Starscream engines practically purred with pride for his home. "I will have to brush up on my poetry," he said, before pulling the cover back.

Prowl's wings shifted as he began to say something, only to freeze in shock. He quickly recovered enough, though his optics were still a bit bright as his doorwings lifted in pleasured surprised. "I did not expect that to have survived."

"I'm glad you like it," Starscream said, looking at the painting himself. "It's beautiful. Would you like it displayed in here?"

"I may?" Prowl's genuine surprise colored not only his voice but his now-active doorwings. Despite the reservations and concerns fueled by his tac-net, the probability this was some kind of trap, Prowl decided it was worth the risk. He'd accepted the loss once, he could again. "Yes. I would."

Starscream just nodded and sat down next to him, leaving the painting where it was for Prowl to move later. "Outsiders don't normally bother with our language or our works," he said. "Why did you?"

"To predict how a mecha will react, one must have at least a basic understanding of their core code and culture. It is also a significant advantage to be able to speak to and understand a mecha in their native dialect. Many mecha default to their first dialect under duress." Prowl gave Starscream a calm look. "Even when I was a freshly sparked patrol officer, I understood that knowledge is power."

Starscream looked back, optics narrowed slightly. "Why did they build a patrol officer who can carry?" he asked.

Prowl's gaze dropped and his doorwings twitched with remembered loss. "The same reason they built one with an experimental tac-net and the finest processors they could source. It was not my final intended function. All Praxian Enforcers began as patrol officers. Those who were to be more would be promoted out after a few vorns. After they'd learned the streets and how to function around civilians."

Starscream cocked his head. "So ... it was so they could have a tactician frequently off duty on sparkling leave?"

Prowl paused, then almost laughed. To Starscream it had the same feeling as Megatron laughing in a way. Something very dark and ugly had just clicked into place. The main difference was that Megatron was likely to send some poor slagger, usually Starscream, to Hook. Starscream didn't know what Prowl would do or how long it would take him to calm down.

"Thank you for putting my existence into perspective." Prowl's mood was just shy of insane, and yet it took him less than a klik to settle again and stabilize into something close to depression. "Willful ignorance is unlike me. I convinced myself it was because they could and they were about to lose Vector Sigma. It makes much more sense if Enforcer was just something to keep me occupied."

"They were going to breed you," Starscream surmised, and gave an ironic smirk. "I would think that would make you less resistant to that fate."

"I expect it will, when I finish processing." Prowl said evenly, though even in the controlled harmonics there was a distinct possibility it wouldn't hold true. Prowl had survived and changed a great deal since he was the mech that would blindly comply with orders.

"You're an odd creature," Starscream said, a little disturbed by the calm answer. He cast about for something to talk about, or do. "Do you like strategy games?"

"That is one of the more polite descriptions I've been told," Prowl acknowledged both the statement and hinted that he was more aware than any officer should be of just what his subordinates and peers thought of him. "Yes, I do enjoy strategy games. Do you?"

"It's been a while since I've played," Starscream admitted, pulling out a holo-board with a dozen games loaded into it. He schooched closer to Prowl and set it between them. "But I used to."

"I will attempt not to humiliate you, then." Prowl said with a small hitch of excitement in his doorwings as he flicked his gaze over the options. "Campaign?" he suggested, selecting the second most complicated one available.

Starscream canted his wings in agreement and opened up the game. They began setting up their pieces in silence, Prowl finishing long before Starscream. When the Seeker finally looked up, the Praxian was waiting patiently. "You know you're far less hostile than I'd imagined you would be," he said.

Prowl didn't hide his surprise. "Why?"

Starscream lifted an optic ridge at him. "We leveled your home and destroyed your army. Most of the imprisoned Autobots have spent their time attempting violence, not talking."

"Violence is always a last resort for Enforcer coding." Prowl shrugged his doorwings. "I surrendered. That implies that I have given up and no longer intend to object to due process. That is true even though I do not know what due process is here."

"No one does," Starscream said with a smirk as he took his first move, and outrageously aggressive opening. "Other than you lot staying nice and secure until we figure out what to do with you."

"Which in part is pairing those of us who can carry with Decepticons who have earned the privilege of siring," he commented as he countered much more conservatively than his battlefield tactics would have suggested. "Has Bluestreak been able to recharge yet?"

"Sirocco started recharging on a spare berth in the same room and he's been able to power down into light recharge," Starscream said. He'd been watching the three survivors Prowl had asked after closely. "Sirocco is gradually moving the berth closer, but Bluestreak still reacts aggressively if he tries to touch."

Prowl hummed as he took in Starscream's move. "Was Sirocco at Praxus over the seventh district?"

"No." Starscream waited until Prowl finished moving his pieces. "Actually Sirocco wasn't at Praxus at all, not that orn. He was assigned to Kaon's border guard until those defenses were breached."

"That's good. If Bluestreak had seen him there it would make what Sirocco is trying impossible," he paused to look at Starscream. "I hope he is patient. Bluestreak has suffered from memory purges and nightmares since that attack. It will not be a fast recovery. That Bluestreak will recharge with him there is a significantly good sign. It means Sirocco has earned some trust. Is Bluestreak being aggressive while aware?"

"Not overly so," Starscream said, optics staying on the board. "He threat-displays and rattles, but the actual striking out seems to come from physical contact when he's in recharge." He glanced up. "Sirocco's a sharpshooter. He wants Bluestreak as a carrier, he's willing to wait as long as he has to."

Prowl twitched his doorwings in a display for understanding. "A good match for spark-gifts then. I realize it is likely not an option yet, however being locked in a room is going to make things more difficult. Praxians are only marginally better with long-term confinement than airframes, or true racers like Blurr. Not many have the coding required to be still and Bluestreak is definitely not one of them. It can be difficult to tell confinement-crazy from genuine aggression at times, but I can tell you that Bluestreak is not naturally aggressive. He's far more submissive by nature than I am." He paused as they traded moves and it became clear that he knew the game far better than Starscream. "Is he still talking non-stop while conscious?"

"Oh yes," Starscream said with a shudder out to his wings as he pinged that information forward to Soundwave and Sirocco. "I'd have gone crazy listening to him by now."

Prowl twitched his doorwings in amusement. "His trauma made it worse, he can't stand silence anymore, but as I understand it he was always quiet verbal. He's actually a good listener. You simply have to break in and fill the silence."

Starscream nodded, watched a full quarter of his pieces vanish, scowled, then looked at Prowl. "Why are you being so helpful?"

"Hope," Prowl answered softly, the statement made more with his doorwings than his vocalizer as he watched the board. "Despite the 73.3% probability that the information will not aid those I surrendered, if it does not, there is little harm it can do in the long run."

"It's already helped Bluestreak, and Red Alert," Starscream said, shrugging his wings. "We don't want Autobots to surrender. We want them to integrate."

Prowl looked up and nodded. He accepted the statement, even if he did not completely believe. "I know a great deal of how to manage them, what sets them off and what soothes them." He intentionally made a less than optimal move. "The cultural and coding issues than many of them come with." He watched Starscream make a move and again chose a less than optimal counter, though it was not enough to give up his advantage. "They may not like me, but I do know how to keep them reasonably civil."

Starscream nodded. "If we ever stop seeing progress, they might be willing to let you in. Megatron is obsessed with the health of the carriers right now." He watched another move, and lifted his optics to Prowl with a sardonic smile. "I may not be the expert you are, but I'm smart enough to know you're holding back." 

"I did promise to do so," Prowl pointed out. "Has Jazz been brought out of stasis yet?"

Starscream smirked. "Oh yes. And promptly escaped. Soundwave was able to recapture him and his, ah, security has been upgraded."

"I wish him luck. Even without a transformation cog Jazz has never remained where he did not wish to be." Prowl's doorwings twitched in amusement. "He earned his reputation and his rank on merit."

"We noticed," Starscream said dryly. "I don't know why Soundwave is so intent on taming that glitch."

Prowl hummed. "Possibly because he's the only one that has any possibility of it. They are also in the same field and commanded opposite sides. Soundwave definitely has a challenge ahead of him."

"You must have known him well," Starscream said mildly. "Was it ever anything more, as rumor suggested?"

Prowl's face shot up as his doorwings flared slightly. Though the physical response was of shock and could mean either answer, the sick disgust roiling through Prowl's field was not. "No. I know him well because he forced me to. He is nearly impossible to control or predict and I _have to_ be able to control and predict. If he wasn't so good at his function I would have shipped him off to Ultra Magnus long ago."

Starscream raised an optic ridge at him, head cocked slightly. "All right, settle down," he said, pinging that information off to Soundwave as well. Why the telepath had wanted to know was beyond him, but Soundwave had promised to keep Brainstorm free for as long as possible if he found out the details between the former SIC and TIC of the Autobots. "He isn't _that_ bad looking," he commented as Prowl settled back down with a shiver to relax his armor and doorwings.

"I suppose," Prowl consented, though it came far more from knowing how others responded to Jazz than any appeal for himself. "He is not the frametype I prefer, though his personality is the real issue between us."

"Mm. And what _do_ you prefer?" Starscream asked with a purr, wondering how much of the Praxian's settling had been in response to a command and how much was simply habit.

"Winged; door, sensor or flight. Even kibble is better than nothing. A fully visible face. A fast alt," Prowl gave Starscream a long, appraising look that wasn't entirely for show. "While I prefer ground frames, Praxian above all, you fit reasonably well."

"Good to know," Starscream said, frowning as the majority of his pieces disappeared. "Though I expect I fit reasonably well with _everyone's_ measure of attractiveness."

"I recommend avoiding Sunstreaker then, and his brother. The first would verbally tear you to shreds about the state of your finish, the second would find all your faults just to mess with your processors." Prowl hummed at some thought. "Jazz is far better at picking out weaknesses and exploiting them shamelessly. He was a sparked con-mech in my opinion. What of you? What do you desire in a lover's frame?"

Starscream was glaring at him in between looking over his frame to search for the so-called state of his finish, and then he grinned. "Megatron is attempting to woo Sunstreaker," he said, and cackled. "How I wish I had a link to that security feed. Thankfully the demon twins are _not_ what I consider attractive. Wings," he nodded to Prowl, "Are a must. Flight is even better. Solidly built, though, which most fliers are not." He shrugged, then gave a rueful smile. "Shuttles."

"Mmm, a mech large enough to shelter you, and mellow enough not to dominate," Prowl chuckled, then sobered. "Do you have a lover among the Decepticons?"

Starscream didn't answer right away, and not until Prowl said his designation. "Hm? Oh. I was..." He trailed off, frowned in thought, then shook his wings out, refocusing on the present. "No. Not that I care about." He rolled his optics. "Skywarp. Astrotrain. Do you have a lover among the Autobots?"

"No," Prowl said simply. "Not since I became an officer. Between regulations, how little time I had for such things and a low interface drive it never seemed worth the trouble. Was he lost in the war?"

"What?" Starscream's wings flared up in a startled jerk. He looked up from the game. "He who?"

"The mecha you still care for, the one I made you think about," Prowl explained evenly. "Was he killed in the war?"

Starscream narrowed his optics at him and opened his mouth for a sharp retort, paused, and tried to mellow his answer. "You're annoying. And no," he bit out. There was a pause. "Before it."

Prowl remained absolutely still, every instinct he had screaming at him that this was a dangerous subject. "What are your hopes, once you are free to do as you wish?"

"To serve the glory of Lord Megatron," Starscream said, rolling his optics, wings set sarcastically. He looked over the game between them, his lack of options, and conceded defeat with a wave of his hand. "I no longer find pure research as fulfilling as I once did. Perhaps weapons development."

"What of energon production, defense systems, improving technology, or new ways to create mecha?" Prowl asked.

"All of those, whatever," Starscream said dismissively. "As long as I'm not _bored_. What would you want to do, if you could be free?"

"Law enforcement, search and rescue, city planning." Prowl didn't even have to think about it. "No matter what I become, I am still an Enforcer at spark."

Starscream nodded. "Do you enjoy it? Beyond just being coded for it?"

"I _am_ core coded for it, but yes, I would say I enjoyed it beyond that," Prowl said quietly, his gaze distant. "I miss protecting my people, solving crimes, helping those in need. I miss patrolling, and the chase." His doorwings sank slightly, though he didn't notice the sign of great longing. "I miss being greeted as a friendly by most."

Starscream cocked his head, then carefully shifted the game board out of the way and leaned forward, telegraphing his movements as he lifted loosely curled fingers to Prowl's jaw, touching lightly. The Praxian trembled slightly, his field flaring briefly with longing-arousal mixed with danger-no and a more subtle hint of wariness. Yet he didn't pull away, even as he pulled his field in close.

"I can do that," Starscream said, emboldened by the acceptance of his touch. It was far more than most had managed so far. "Is it hard for you, being locked in here?"

"Only when I think of the past," Prowl answered as he got his frame fully under control. The arousal still licked at him despite knowing this was not entirely of Starscream's free will but it was controlled. "I do have office coding."

"Would you _like_ to go out?" Starscream asked.

"Yes." Prowl responded with honesty. Everything said this was a trap, yet what did he have to lose? He'd accepted his deactivation long ago. There was no city to protect. There was no Prime to fight for. No cause he cared about. Nothing he knew was of tactical value anymore. The handful of Autobots still running loose would have assumed everything the officers knew was compromised as soon as he'd surrendered. That was standard protocol when an officer defected or was suspected of breaking. If it amused the victors to play games with him, it cost him nothing to go along now. He had nothing they did not give him, and all they gave could be taken away.

"I'll see what I can do," Starscream said before shifting back to his former position. He drew the board back and queued a fresh game up, lifting his wings in offering. "Again?"

"Again." Prowl relaxed even as the arousal gnawed at him for several kliks until the small charge cleared his systems.

* * *

After a metacycle Prowl was growing accustomed to his status. It was severely unpleasant to starve his tac-net into submission, but it was better than his other options. He would create with Starscream, carry and bring a new spark into the post war world. His tac-net snarled at him for the thought, but every orn it weakened. When it finally shut down and he could feed it the new parameters during a slow boot sequence it would accept that carrying was part of his function now.

As for Starscream, Prowl found himself looking forward to the visits. The seeker wasn't even close to his first choice in lovers, much less a mate, but he was smart and had a sharp wit. When he felt like it, Starscream was an enjoyable debate partner. And the seeker seemed to be actively trying to sweeten his own temper, though he wasn't always successful, but it was a far cry from what they'd witnessed of the Decepticon SIC during the war. 

"Hello," came Starscream's greeting. It was the same every time he visited, usually once per orn, and the high quality high grade came after. It was too much of a temptation despite knowing it would lengthen how long it would take to shut the tac-net down. Prowl picked it up and sipped it slowly.

"Hello, Starscream," Prowl replied. "What shall we play today?"

"I was thinking to try my hand at Crossfire again," the Seeker said, setting up the holo-board between them. Prowl wasn't surprised, it was Starscream's strongest game. "If that's all right with you."

"Yes," Prowl was quite willing to grant Starscream every advantage. Even with his tac-net largely down and his energy levels just above critical, the seeker needed it. "Have you moved out of the barracks yet?"

Starscream hummed in affirmative and took the first move. "I wasn't about to stay in there any longer than I had to."

"Tell me about it." Prowl requested as he began to deal with the systematic randomness of not having any intel on where his targets were.

"My place?" Starscream clarified, glancing up. Prowl nodded and he shrugged. "It isn't much. Certainly not up to _my_ standards. But it does have roof access and plenty of windows, and an open-door balcony. One berth, a workstation, vid-screen. Nothing bigger than that has been constructed so far."

"What will you want when you have a home that's up to your standards?" Prowl asked as they exchanged turns.

Starscream stopped for long enough to smirk at him. "A palace, of course," he said. "What would you design, if you had the opportunity?"

Prowl chuckled lightly. "Clean lines, lavish washrack and berth, a great view of the city." He smiled slightly at old memories. "My apartment was my retreat. I never needed much space, but what I used I like to have the best I could afford."

" _Lavish_ berth," Starscream said with a suggestive hum. "For your comfort, or did that entertain other purposes as well?"

Prowl did chuckle for real. "Bought for my comfort. Used and modified for my entertainment and _enjoyment_ ," he laced the last glyph with as many erotic subglyphs and harmonics as possible.

"Oh?" Starscream asked. "How did you modify it?"

"Restraints and places to attach them," Prowl answered without shame. "Power games were popular among Enforcers." He hummed as he briefly considered his next move. "Though most of the action was on the Enforcer-only racetracks."

Starscream cocked his head as he tried to imagine what could go on on a racetrack. "Really now. Alt form interfacing, or something else?"

"Something else," Prowl chuckled a little deeper. "Praxians are built to drive, but Enforcers were built to _hunt_. It got most of us very revved up, so after a race we worked off the charge before going out in public again. More than a few arguments were settled on the track too."

Starscream hummed. "Not unlike seekers that way," he commented as he took his move. "Chasing can be exhilarating. Only difference is _we_ don't have to leave the sky or our alt mode to finish."

"True," Prowl accepted it and didn't hide that he found the idea appealing. "That must be amazing, to force another from the sky and enjoy their surrender there."

"It is," Starscream said with a smirk. "So were the restraints added to use on you, or others?"

"It depended on my mood, and my berthmate," Prowl answered. "I enjoy both roles. What about you?"

"I do not take well to being restrained by anything other than another frame," Starscream said. "Though I am happy to experiment with restraining another. I've never tried anything like it."

"Is it uncommon among flight-frames to be willing, or just those you tend to choose?" Prowl asked with genuine curiosity.

Starscream hummed thoughtfully. "Being trapped on our wings is unsettling. I don't know anyone who seeks it as a thrill. Beyond that ... I've always chosen fliers capable of presenting a challenge. Those personalities don't lend themselves to restraint."

"True," Prowl agreed. "Though it's possible it is because they do not trust who they are with. It is an amazing experience to have no choice but to let go and enjoy what is being done to you. A critical component is trust though. It can be difficult to find a lover you trust that much."

Starscream tilted his helm forward in acknowledgment, but his wings canted back with some amount of disagreement for the statement. "It is not the _only_ experience to indicate trust," he said. "There are other ways to judge that."

Prowl's doorwings flicked in surprise. "That was not what I intended to imply. Enjoying bondage typically requires trust. Trust does not require bondage. Bondage is a _kink_. It is not something all will enjoy."

"My partners not trusting me is _not_ why I never tied them up," Starscream said. "Just so we're clear." 

"We are clear," Prowl canted his doorwings in understanding and focused on the game for a couple rounds. "Have you had a grounder lover before?"

"Yes," Starscream said. "Have you been with a flier?" 

"Not yet," Prowl answered as he watched Starscream's move and the resulting destruction of one of his ships. "What drew you to him?"

Starscream smirked. "Nothing nearly as romantic as you seem to be thinking," he said. "Why no fliers, no opportunity?"

"Yes," Prowl twitched his doorwings in confirmation. "Enforcers usually stayed within their unit. We didn't have any fliers. By the time there were fliers in my unit, I was an Autobot and in no mood to want the attention. Then rank got in the way."

"Only in your unit?" Starscream repeated with some surprise. "Have you ever had a lover outside it?"

"No," Prowl shook his helm. "I never had any need to look beyond them."

Starscream cocked his head. "Are they the same ones you were created with, or were you just assigned to one?"

"Yes and yes," Prowl chuckled and sank one of Starscream's heavy battleships. "An Enforcer unit in this context was everyone in the same district. Those I was created with were among them, but not all of them."

"Did you form closer relationships among the unit, or did everyone just..." Starscream tried to think of a better way to word the question, then shrugged. "'Face everyone?"

"Some 'faced whoever was available. Most settled into pairs or quads or remained alone," Prowl explained easily. "I've come to understand that is considered normal outside as well. How do Vosians usually arrange it?"

"Something similar, though we settle into trines," Starscream said. "But they are not always for lovers. They offer both strength and maneuverability in battle, and stability out of it. Most end up as lovers."

Prowl hummed as they traded moves for a while. "Are you more than casual lovers with Thundercracker or Skywarp?"

"No," Starscream said. "Barely even that with Thundercracker, but there's something to be said for trusting your berthmate not to stab you through the spark when you're not looking." He smirked, glancing up. "Unless you're into rough play."

"That's beyond rough play," Prowl's doorwings twitched a bit, disturbed that such behavior was even conceivable for the new rulers. "How did you end up flying with them?"

"They are skilled fliers, with powerful spark gifts. The three strongest fliers of the Decepticon army naturally came together." Starscream shrugged. "Did you have a quad?"

"Early in my carrier, when I was a patrol officer, I had a partner," Prowl answered as he selected his move. "He was my first lover, but we didn't stay together long. He was too dominant for my taste."

Starscream raised an optic ridge at him. "Too dominant for you? You prefer to be dominant?"

Prowl hummed in amusement, his doorwings giving a twitch of the same. "I'm flexible, he wasn't. I enjoy being both dominant and submissive and a range of kinks. He taught me many things, and our parting was amicable enough. He found my dominant tendencies as annoying as I found his lack of submission and curiosity. First lovers, particularly a trainer-rookie match, were not expected to last. Like the education they give about the function, such relationships are more about learning than commitment."

"Ah," Starscream said, nodding. He peered at the board. "What are some of your favorite kinks?" he asked while he considered his next move.

"Racing, chasing, bondage, overload denial, blinding, spark play and anything that involves a shower or pool," Prowl answered smoothly, though his engine revved just mentioning the washrack locations. "Yours?"

"A good struggle," Starscream said. "Put up by either party. Being held down, or holding another down. Interfacing in the air." He drummed his fingers as Prowl's engine revved _hard_. "Overloading my partner with a false spike."

"I think we'll get along just fine for as long as we need to," Prowl purred, his doorwings flicking and twitching in early arousal. "Are there any methods you particularly dislike?"

"Nothing really," Starscream said, shrugging his wings. "I don't love spiking, but it isn't bad. Same question?"

"I'm fine with all. Though I am particularly find of spark, hardline and spiking," Prowl said as he turned thoughts over in his mind a few times. "Have you been the spiker in a submissive role?"

"I haven't," Starscream said, cocking his head. "When I'm spiking it's as an equal."

Prowl gave a hum and focused on the game for a moment. "Think about a position or setup that works for you where you're the submissive and the spiker," he suggested as much as asked. "Without laying on your wings or being in the air, I'm not coming up with anything."

"What would be the point of that?" Starscream asked, scowling at the board as much as the question.

"You're obliged to be the spiker when I carry and I'm not going to submit every time," Prowl pointed out blandly. "Unless you're on your back, and thus your wings, I don't know of another position for it."

" _When_ you carry," Starscream repeated, wings lifting. "You've decided to?"

"Barring new information." Prowl answered. "You have a long way to go to earn that right though. I don't want _your_ creation yet."

Starscream gave an exaggerated, disgusted huff. "Why _not?_ I'm a genius, I'm the best flier in the world, and I look damn good while doing it."

"You are arrogant, ill-tempered, violent, irresponsible and completely lacking in the ability to create and carry out a plan," Prowl shot back. "Those are not qualities I want to pass on."

Starscream glared at him. "Well we both know that I'd rather be somewhere else, so you might as well hurry up and get used to the idea."

Prowl looked at Starscream with an utterly serene expression. "Your logic has one critical flaw. I have accepted spending what is left of my existence in prison, a cell far less pleasant than this one. You must convince me to do this so you can have what you want."

Starscream groaned, rubbed at his helm, then returned his focus to the game. "Well at least you're an interesting opponent." 

"Thank you," Prowl took it for a compliment, unconcerned with whether it actually was one.


	2. Granting Favors

Starscream steeled himself, carefully set his wings to indicate that he was not going to take _no_ for an answer, cleared out his vocalizer, and strode unannounced into the central chambers of the Kaon governmental complex. These chambers were reserved for Lord Megatron's private use, and Starscream did not like venturing in here.

But Prowl wanted something, and Starscream wanted Brainstorm, and to get Brainstorm, he had to get Prowl what he wanted. "Lord Megatron," he announced his presence proudly, taking note that Soundwave was in the room. It wasn't a surprise. Where one found Megatron one usually found Soundwave, if the telepath wasn't in his personal command center.

"Starscream," Megatron's optic ridge rose as he took in his SIC. "What brings you here?"

"I am here to personally inform you that I will be escorting Prowl to see some of his fellow Autobots," Starscream said. "He has expressed that desire, and also to have his t-cog temporarily installed in order to drive outside for several joors. I will be escorting him and ensuring both his security and safety."

Megatron's optics narrowed. "You wish to take one of the most dangerous, unpredictable, plotting carriers outside, with only yourself to ensure his safe return."

"Are you saying I'm incapable of it?" Starscream challenged, wings lifting.

"Your wits against Prowl's? There is no contest and you know it," Megatron snorted. "I saw how well your tactical games with him go."

" _Please_ , mighty Megatron, I let him win those so he'll feel more comfortable around me," Starscream lied blatantly, and knew that neither of them would believe it for a nanoklik, but he felt better saying it. "And _besides_ , that is completely different from watching a _grounder_ and making sure he doesn't disappear."

"No. He is not going outside the facility until _Soundwave_ is convinced he won't try anything destructive," Megatron insisted firmly.

"My Lord, Soundwave still isn't convinced that _I_ won't try anything destructive," Starscream said dryly. "If you will not let me rehabilitate Prowl in the manner that I see fit, I demand you let me rehabilitate the carrier that I _want._ I will work with Prowl _my_ way, or not at all."

"Demand?" Megatron straightened a bit as he glared at his insubordinate SIC. "You are in no position to demand anything. You will work with Prowl or you will not sire with any of them."

"You _want_ what I have passed on," Starscream said, not backing down in posture or frame. " _And_ you want it tempered by someone less spirited. Brainstorm is a perfect match and you know it. I will get to him faster if you give me full reign with Prowl."

"You will not take him outside the facility," Megatron insisted. "Take him to see his friends if you want. He's been cooperative enough for that reward."

"I'll take him outside the facility without his t-cog," Starscream countered.

"What _for?_ " Megatron scowled. "He wants to race, not walk around."

"He wants to be _outside_ ," Starscream said. "Even if he can't race."

"Lord Megatron." Soundwave actually interrupted, surprising them both. "Advantage to Prowl believing in Decepticon management: significant. Prowl: extremely skilled manager. Advice if offered: high probability of increased efficiency."

Starscream stayed quiet. Soundwave was arguing on his behalf. Megatron seemed to realize it, too, because he looked at the TIC he trusted far beyond his SIC with narrowed optics. "You are in favor of this plan?" 

"Prowl: surrendered," Soundwave explained. "Prowl: no illusions of rebellion. Addition: Intel Prowl volunteered of great assistance in calming other carriers."

Megatron turned slowly back to Starscream, regarding him. "Fine. You may take the Praxian out without a t-cog. His whereabouts will be strictly monitored by Soundwave and every location reported in real time to _me_." He advanced several steps on the seeker until he was looming over him. "Now you listen, and you listen _good_. That Praxian is worth more than your life and if anything happens, you _will_ be paying that price. Don't think I don't know what you're doing, and I do _not_ find it amusing. You breed with him, or I will have your wings." 

Starscream hissed and rattled his wings until Megatron grabbed on of them and yanked on it, making him yelp, before pushing him forcefully to the door. 

"Oh and Starscream," the warlord added, smugly, when Starscream had almost escaped. The seeker stopped, cringed, and looked back. "That was cute, the way you stood up for him just now." 

Starscream's next hiss was deeper and more violent before he stalked out of the control center, the sound of Megatron's laughter following after him.

* * *

Starscream had to make arrangements with Soundwave and he knew that at least three of the host's cassettes would be trailing him the entire time, but he had an approved list of Autobots that Prowl would be allowed to visit, as a reward for his good behavior and helpfulness. He walked into the Praxian's cell, noting with pleasure that he was sitting in his now usual position of being able to see the painting of the Helix Gardens. His gift had been well received, and he planned on adding a few more while they were out.

He gave Prowl the moment he required to shift his posture towards the door so he was facing Starscream, then knelt in front of him and set down the offering of energon while whistling a traditional Vosian greeting.

Prowl's whistle back, while not perfect, was better than his first try, and included a mild 'thank you' warble at the end as he picked up the energon and sipped on it. Only this time, for the first time, he didn't put it down after the first couple mouthfuls.

Starscream waited quietly until nearly half the cube was finished. "Why don't you do that more often?" he asked. "I know the energon they give you is thinned down. You aren't taking in much fuel at all."

"When my tac-net is objecting to an adaptation, it helps to starve it into shutting down since I do not trust a Decepticon to do so. I need to consume just enough for my core systems and main processors so I do not enter survival mode, while keeping my energy too low for the tac-net to operate well. It is a long-term project." Prowl paused and looked down at the cube. "I shouldn't have consumed this much. Hunger is not an easy thing to override."

"I'll bring something lower fuel from now on," Starscream said. "So you don't have to worry about self-control. I also have this for you." He pulled out the list of Autobots they were permitted to visit and handed it to him.

"Thank you," Prowl accepted the offer gratefully. As strange as it was to be thankful for low-energy fuel, being able to consume what he was given was something he was looking forward to. He also accepted the list and scanned it. Roughly half the survivors were on it. The half that weren't were all mecha Prowl had expected to be violent and uncontrollable still. What surprised him was that Sunstreaker was listed but Sideswipe was not and he glanced at Starscream. "I can deduce the reason for every absence, however I would expect Sunstreaker to be absent given the pattern."

"Sunstreaker has behaved better than Sideswipe," Starscream said, shrugging his wings. "He has reacted with depression, while Sideswipe has reacted with aggression. These are the mecha you are allowed to visit today. After that, you'll be escorted outside."

Prowl's face shot up with shock rippling through his doorwings. A moment later they fluttered with pleased anticipation. "Thank you." He glanced at the list again, though he already knew it. "Bluestreak, Red Alert, Ratchet and Sunstreaker. I would like to see and speak to them."

"Sunstreaker?" Starscream asked with some surprise as he pinged the designations forward to Soundwave, who confirmed them a moment later. "Wasn't he basically just a grunt?"

Prowl hummed. "Yes, I suppose he comes across as one. As a frontliner, he is one I expect to have more difficulty than most accepting what has happened and his fate. His processor damage has made him a mech I have dealt with more than most. It took continual effort to keep him and his brother from being court-martialed for infighting. I would like to see how he is doing now that he does not have as many social pressures on him."

Starscream canted his wings in understanding. "Is that the order you'd like to see them in?" he asked.

"Yes," Prowl canted his doorwings in both confirmation and thanks. "When will we go?"

"Now," Starscream stood and offered a hand to Prowl while trying to pretend he hadn't heard Megatron's parting words when they were accepted with a tiny flutter of anticipation in Prowl's field that didn't have to do with seeing his soldiers again. On the other hand, if Prowl was being this responsive after so short a time, Starscream might just manage to breed him before Brainstorm was taken.

While each Autobot had their own shielded and completely separate cell room that mimicked individual quarters as much as possible, complete with airlock entryway, they weren't as far apart as the silence of their cells could make it seem. It was only two doors down that Starscream stopped and palmed the controls to open the outer door to Bluestreak's cell and stepped inside. He waited until Prowl joined him and the door locked behind them before palming the inner door's panel to slid it open.

Bluestreak looked up immediately, and when he saw the visitors, he seemed to step forward eagerly and shrink back at the same time. Wariness of Starscream was too powerful an emotion for him to rush to Prowl, until the other Praxian stepped a comfortable distance away, and then Bluestreak rushed him, grabbing him in a hold that acted like a hug but looked far more desperate. "Prowl I didn't think I'd ever see you again it's been so long inside and I don't know what to do with myself anymore but at least there's this seeker who helps me recharge and he's not bad but he told me that Smokescreen didn't make it is that true?" Grey wings quivered with distress.

"Yes," Prowl wasn't entirely comfortable with the contact but he held still and slowly slid his arms around Bluestreak to stroke lightly between his doorwings in a soothing motion that helped most of the time. "Has he told you why he's being nice to you?"

"Yeah," Bluestreak said, helm tilting listlessly to the wide, doorwings flattening. "I mean I guess I'm alive and Cybertron needs help but I never wanted to do this kind of help and I don't even know if I really have a choice about the whole thing even though they say I do but what if I don't?" 

"You do have a choice," Starscream said. "No one will force creation on you, much less interfacing." 

"Sirocco said that too but what happens if I say no?" Bluestreak asked, looking up at Prowl.

Prowl idled his engine to a soothing tone but had to look at Starscream for that answer.

"Nothing will happen to you," Starscream recited, shrugging. "You will be kept in this room until we believe you are fit for productive civilian life. That is our goal for every prisoner, whether attainable or not." 

Bluestreak frowned at him, then tucked his face against Prowl's shoulder, holding him tightly. "I was really scared that you were gone too even though they said you weren't because maybe they were trying to trick me."

"I know," Prowl murmured, still stroking Bluestreak's back. "I'm going to be looking in on a few others today. Perhaps Sirocco can arrange for you to visit someone. Bumblebee is on the list of those I could visit. You might be able to see him if you ask. I know the room is difficult to deal with. Ask to go outside, or even just to run around the halls within the complex. It might take a while, but so long as you're not violent or trying to escape, Sirocco should be able to arrange it. It's for your health after all."

Bluestreak didn't seem to really absorb much after hearing that there was a chance of seeing Bumblebee, field brightening a little. "I'd really like that," he said. "Who else are you visiting and how long can you stay I really miss being near you and everyone else."

"I know," Prowl said softly. "Red Alert, Ratchet and Sunstreaker. Did you know you were a carrier-type before this?"

Bluestreak shook his head rapidly. "Just as much a surprise to me as probably everyone else I think," he said, and cocked his head. "It seems kinda funny that so many Autobots are carriers and the Decepticons say they don't have any at all I mean isn't that a little weird? I hope Red is okay I bet he's freaked out bad and everyone must be freaked out bad why did you surrender we could have made it!" 

"No. We couldn't have," Prowl sighed. "Not after Optimus fell. Not even my tactics would have offered anything but the deactivation of the last Autobot within a vorn. Five if Jazz, Mirage or Hound were simply trying to hide and survive and stay clear of Decepticon patrols and facilities. The truth is we lost the war when Optimus Prime came. He was not the leader we needed."

Bluestreak backed up abruptly. "Don't say that!" he said. "He did everything he could, it wasn't his fault that everything was so awful before him!"

"He did all he could, he fought well and did his best, and no, the situation he was forced into was not his fault," Prowl agreed. "He was a good Prime," he added softly and purposefully did not speak of the truth that trying and a bad situation did not refute that he was not the leader they'd needed. Prowl knew that with the right Prime he could have won the war. 

Bluestreak's doorwings drooped and he sighed, nodding. "Yeah, he was," he said, scuffing at the floor, then glared at Starscream. "He the one that's trying to do you or what?"

"Assigned to it, yes," Prowl twitched his doorwings in confirmation. "There are worse things to be asked to do than to create."

"Sure, but _Starscream?_ " Bluestreak snorted, mood lifting up again. "At least Sirocco's really nice and he has a pretty voice and he's actually _good_ at what he's supposed to do so I guess it wouldn't be too bad I always kinda wanted to create maybe." 

"Hey!" Starscream snapped at him, but the younger Praxian ignored him, taking Prowl's hand and pulling him over to sit with him while still chattering about random things that seemed to work back to Sirocco or racing every few sentences.

Starscream stood in the back and monitored them, and then at Soundwave's comm, finally stepped forward. "Unless you would like to spend less time with one of the others, we need to move on now," he told Prowl.

"I'm sorry Bluestreak," Prowl interrupted the younger mech. "I must go."

"Oh ... yeah, okay," Bluestreak said. "Thanks for coming Prowl it gets really lonely in here and Sirocco isn't here all the time and it feels better to talk to something alive." He offered a rueful smile. "I was kinda loopy for a while."

"So I heard. I am glad you can recharge again," Prowl said as he stood and followed Starscream out the door.

"How can you stand that?" the seeker twitched his wings with a bit of bemusement after the inner door closed.

"One becomes accustomed to him. I was the first Praxian he saw when we pulled him from the rubble so he latched onto me as his new creator-figure," Prowl shrugged slightly.

"You're hardly the affectionate creator type," Starscream said as he stopped several cells down and palmed the door open. "Poor kid. Will you be more affectionate with your own?"

"Unlikely. Emotions and an advanced tac-net do not mix well," Prowl answered as much as warned. "Though given carrying should activate the creator protocols I should have, I may. There are more unknowns involved in the process than I care to contemplate yet."

"You _can_ carry, which is the important part," Starscream said with a shrug as they entered the cell.

The screech that greeted them sent Starscream's wings on edge, but he could see and teek that Prowl was expecting it when the Praxian stepped in front of him to forestall the worst of the reaction to the seeker's presence. Low, clicking sounds, resembling verbalized base code, came from Prowl's vocalizer and Red Alert stilled to glare at them.

Another klik and Red Alert's armor loosened a little as he replied in the same verbalized base code. "How do I know you're real?" he finally demanded.

Prowl spiraled open his primary dataport in offering, careful to continue to use the language Red Alert had never hallucinated in. "You know my processors as well as you know your own."

"Which is exactly why it could be a glitch," the former Security Director said, with a touch of smugness to his voice. "You would be very easy to hallucinate you know."

"I suppose so," Prowl consented, entirely too accustomed to the process of bringing the only mech he considered a friend back to reality. "Though if I'm an hallucination, what harm does it do to talk to me?"

"Hmm." Red Alert tilted his head back and forth a few times. "None I guess. If you are a glitch then I am still stuck in my cell and can't hurt myself anyway."

"You are still stuck in your cell, and I wouldn't allow you to harm yourself even if they would," Prowl said, a simple truth that had applied as much among the Autobots as it did here. "You're far too valuable to them to allow you to be damaged any more than you already are."

"Why am I valuable to them?" Red Alert asked as Prowl sat carefully on the ground, legs crossed.

"You are a carrier, one of far too few still functioning," Prowl explained. "Without Vector Sigma, it is the only way to repopulate Cybertron now that the war is over."

"Yes, yes, good, that is correct," Red Alert said, humming and sitting down, far enough from Prowl that they could reach out and touch, but it would have to be a mutual effort. "But that's an answer I would have known. What do you think the chances are that I can successfully carry?"

Prowl had to pause to really _think_ about that, and ended up having to divert power to nudge his tac-net back into full operation to get anything resembling a satisfactory answer. "Assuming the sire takes the care with you I have seen with others and experienced, 47% per vorn to kindle, 14% to carry to term without significant medical intervention."

"I would have predicted much lower odds," Red Alert said, and reached one hand out. "You would feel solid even if you were a glitch but I like it anyway. I think you might be real. I think Soundwave is real."

Prowl couldn't help the startled flare of his doorwings. "Soundwave? He's the one you've been paired with?"

"He knew to speak in binary even though I never told him so and I thought that was very suspicious," Red Alert said, frowning. "But he is a telepath and he hasn't fit the pattern of other glitches. He hasn't talked about anything like that but I think he is."

Prowl hummed thoughtfully. "The number of Decepticons capable of coping with you is very limited. Soundwave is, in my opinion, the best of them for you, even though I do not believe he has medical coding. Who brought you out of your glitch shutdown?"

"Hook and Soundwave were there," Red Alert said. "It was so strange that I thought it was probably real." He curled his fingers around Prowl's and felt them squeezed in return. "What happened, in the end?"

"I chose surrender over slaughter," Prowl said quietly, and one didn't need to be skilled at reading wing-language to know just how painful a statement it was. "Megatron broke through the south wall. He tore Prime's spark casing out right after he crushed the Matrix. When he continued to advance despite taking losses I realized there was a 93% probability that he intended to leave no resistance behind to recoup and go underground. I surrendered those still alive to keep them alive. I did not know at the time that the assault on Iacon was merely the largest offensive. Every one of our facilities were hit at the same time. Those that did not surrender were obliterated. There are a handful of mecha unaccounted for. Not enough to make a difference even if all are functional."

"That must have been when it started," Red Alert said with a sigh. "I remember the influx of breeches, and trying to handle them, and then you said to stop and I couldn't understand that we would stop." He scooched closer to Prowl. "Is there a plan?" he whispered.

Prowl looked down at their entwined hands, regretting the truth of what he was about to say. "Compliance. Earn our freedom. Go back to being civilians."

Red Alert nodded, then smiled. "Now I know you're Prowl," he said, and moved the rest of the way forward, bringing their helms together and x-venting. "Too real, too real."

"I'm glad you survived." Prowl murmured, content to relax in that posture. He didn't care who saw at this point, or what they thought the intimate gesture implied. "I'm sorry for the price of our freedom."

"It would have been higher if you hadn't surrendered," Red Alert said. "Are you okay?"

"At the moment, no." Prowl admitted as he sank into the safety and comfort that Red Alert represented. "My tac-net is having a small fit at the idea of carrying so I've had to resort to starving it into shutdown without shutting myself down. The process has left me a bit unbalanced. It is not a long-term issue, however."

Red Alert glanced over Prowl's doorwing at the Seeker in the doorway. "Do you need a merge, or a hookup?"

Prowl shivered at the offer and tried to stop his vents hitching at the thoughts -- arousal -- he'd never had before in response to his friend surged through him. "I ... hardline. I don't trust myself enough...."

They both overheard the comm burst objecting to their actions, from a cassette to Starscream, and immediately heard Starscream snap back at Soundwave to keep out and let them do what they wanted. Apparently the cassettes could translate in real time, same as their host. 

Red Alert waited until there was silence again and then spiraled open his dataport and handed Prowl his cable in a cool, professional move that helped the Praxian settle himself. The connection was made, handshakes and security protocols cleared. They were both all but oblivious to their frames beyond the proximity alerts they each had operating as the kliks passed and they settled through the complex and occasionally hazardous process of linking up two of the most highly guarded processors ever created.

~I've missed you.~ Prowl spoke first, though it came well after Red Alert grasped just what it took to bring the tac-net to a gradual shutdown. Hunger. Stillness. Mental pain as it objected. Emotional pain as code was no longer shunted away or buffered by the logic and needs of the tac-net.

~I missed you as well,~ Red Alert said, settling into the familiar and calming with it. ~I thought for sure when I saw Hook bringing me out of stasis that I had gone fully insane, until he told me it was your advice.~

~I regret I did not learn of your status sooner. Do you know how much damage is permanent?~ Prowl asked softly. He felt his frame and processors begin to relax from the high tension they'd been held at for so long. Not completely relaxed, but far more than before.

~Not much, not much,~ Red Alert assured him. ~Only worsened damage that was already there. Gets easier every orn.~

~Good,~ Prowl allowed his relief to show. ~I'm going to give you the same advice I'm giving all I cross paths with. Be reasonable. Ask for what you want. If there's someone you'd rather kindle with, say so. They might let you.~

Red Alert smiled at him. ~So we've surrendered to become breeders. Are you going to kindle?~

~I intend to try. Not _soon_ though. I have too much to get through before I can let him in that far.~ Prowl admitted. ~I have some hope I've been told the truth, that once we can be viable civilians we'll be allowed to integrate into the population.~

~That sounds like a lie to make you compliant,~ Red Alert said.

~I know,~ Prowl said grimly. ~Though today has raised the odds of it being the truth. I'm not just being allowed to visit some Autobots, I'm going to go outside. They're going to a lot of trouble to make it a gilded cage, and if I'm honest, I'm treated better and more honestly here than before.~

~It could still be an elaborate trick,~ Red Alert warned him. ~It could also be all an elaborate hallucination but that's harder to tell. Did you suffer any lasting damage in the surrender?~

~No. I was undamaged,~ Prowl promised, knowing that his friend meant processor damage, not frame damage.

~Good,~ Red Alert said, squeezing his hands. ~Is it ... Do you find it difficult, to be trapped with no function?~ he asked quietly. ~Has starving the tac-net helped significantly?~

~Yes,~ Prowl murmured. ~It's intolerable. Starving the tac-net helps. So does focusing on what will get me out and in a place where I can return to my function.~

Red Alert nodded. ~Being in here has been helpful. No security risks. Just my own sanity to question. Soundwave always comes at the same time. Breeding was not my _purpose_. I don't have a purpose.~ He looked pleadingly at Prowl.

~Making a facility secure is still your purpose, Red Alert,~ Prowl told him. ~It is what you were created for. Hold onto that desire, the need to be useful in your function. He'll know. If he wants to be helpful, he will find a way to give you what you need to have your purpose in action again. Even if it is only control of your home.~

~I would like that,~ Red Alert said wistfully, calm in the presence of the mech who knew so well what it meant to be unable to move on from what many others only saw as a temporary job. ~Thank you Prowl.~

~You are welcome, Red Alert,~ Prowl smiled slightly. ~I will visit again when I can. I would like to see how you have improved.~

~Please do,~ Red Alert said agreeably. ~I have missed you.~

The hardline stilled, both of them taking comfort in the presence of another who understood their reality in a way so few did. It was only when Starscream stepped within the alert range that either one so much as twitched, and it was Prowl who lifted his gaze to the seeker. "It's time to go?"

"Unless you want to cut another visit short," the seeker said, flicking his wings in affirmative.

"Ratchet and Sunstreaker can have half the time," Prowl decided before sinking forward to rest his forehelm against Red Alert's and relaxing into the silence with his friend once more. It felt too good to give up.

Starscream nodded and stepped back again, internally groaning. Bluestreak had at least given him something to listen to--something obnoxious, but it was still _something_ \--while these two seemed happy to just sit in silence. Not only had they been speaking in that strange base code for a while, he was pretty sure they weren't even talking now. Just ... sitting. 

And he had another joor of this freakshow, wonderful. The seeker stood and tried not to twitch too much, and was definitely grateful when Prowl disconnected the hardline and stood up. 

"Old lover?" he asked once they were in the hall.

"No," Prowl flicked his doorwings. "In another time and place we may have been, but circumstances didn't allow it."

"Good," Starscream decided, as they came upon Ratchet's door. He didn't like the idea of the two together. Their interfacing would probably be boring as slag. For all he'd known, they could have been interfacing the entire time they'd been hooked up, but if they had been neither had overloaded. 

Or maybe they had. Slag, he didn't know. 

Prowl gave the seeker a curious look. "You're pleased I do not have a surviving lover?"

"Would it make things better?" Starscream asked with a shrug.

"Given the stated goal of kindling, both with you and in general, yes," Prowl said simply. "I would not have nearly so far to go to agree to the idea in practice."

Starscream frowned at him. "Well Red Alert is just strange," he said as they walked into Ratchet's cell. The medic was reclining on the single berth, staring up at the ceiling, and when he turned to look at the visitors, his optics brightened, then narrowed. "Well stall my engine, look what crawled out of the scrap heap," he said, sitting up.

"Would you prefer I hadn't?" Prowl asked levelly, giving no hint as to his reaction to the greeting.

"Kinda, yeah," Ratchet said, scanning him up and down, taking in the highly depleted state of his energy reserves. "The Pit're you doing here?"

"Confirming what I have been told, predominantly. Have you been consulted about any of the survivors?" Prowl said, holding his frame language almost painfully neutral.

Ratchet grunted in affirmative. "They not fueling you?" he asked.

"I receive the same cube of low grade as I understand is standard. I'm intentionally starving the tac-net into a slow reboot," Prowl explained.

Ratchet sighed with exasperation, shook his head, then gestured with his hand for Prowl to come over to the berth. "All right, sit down and open up and I'll see what I can do," he said.

Prowl complied without question, sitting and offering Ratchet both his main dataport and the medical one at the base of his helm. Ratchet plugged into both and initiated the long-familiar hookup with Prowl's systems. He was recognized and accepted without question, and started rooting around in the tac-net power options. He hadn't created this software, but over the vorns he'd gotten to know it extremely well. "Seen anyone else?" he asked to fill the silence.

"Bluestreak and Red Alert. I'm planning to visit Sunstreaker next," Prowl answered as he absently watched Ratchet work inside his processor. "Has anyone been visiting you?"

"Hook's been poking around," Ratchet muttered. "Same thing for you, being a carrier?"

"Affirmative," Prowl made a motion towards Starscream. "Though I've gathered that the other pairings are more voluntary than it is for Starscream."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge, then snickered. "Yeah I can see you being punishment," he said, and then Prowl felt something click weirdly, and a portion of the tac-net was dropped offline. "Yes or no?" Ratchet asked.

"Section three is down," Prowl said, and twitched as his processors tried to cope with the increased emotional content that he was severely unprepared for.

Ratchet waited a moment, teeking and watching. "Want it back up?" he finally asked, as the jumble in Prowl's field got worse.

"I _need_ the entire thing to go down and go into a slow boot to feed it the new parameters for my personal functioning," Prowl explained. "This is the only way I know that won't take vorns of careful top-level coding."

"Fine, all right," Ratchet said, and started doing that. "Figured I'd give this a shot first. I wish you'd just let me disable the damn thing."

Prowl was silent for a moment as he shuddered violently at the full impact of his emotional protocols unbuffered by anything for the first time in his existence. His vocalizer squealed when he tried to speak and he was too distorted to turn it off.

"Sorry, sorry," Ratchet muttered. "I'll try to hurry." 

Prowl felt something on his doorwings--hands--and then moved up and down the outside edges in a slow, steady rhythm. Starscream's field pressed steadily against his back. Prowl leaned into that support and the steady field on one side and the medical safety on the other side. He knew Ratchet was experiencing at least some of the nightmare that Prowl was feeling and maybe, just maybe, the medic would understand that turning off the hardware one had been designed and built to support was not a good idea for long term survival.

The tac-net was Prowl's reason to function, the reason he'd been sparked, and he was wholly unprepared to exist without it. It was all he could do to hold onto his will to do this until he felt the tac-net coming back. It was slow, agonizingly slow, but the relief at the first section clicking on, taking the datapack he'd prepared when he began the process and integrating it before the next segment booted was enough to allow him to hold on.

By the time Prowl fully regained awareness outside the chaos of his half-booted processors his vents were wide open, his core temperature 3.6 degrees above normal and he was shaking uncontrollably. Despite all that, he felt better. His emotional protocols were 8% more noticeable than before and his tac-net had accepted the new parameters he'd fed it.

Now all he was aware of was _hunger_.

It must have showed through his field because a cube was being pressed into his hands and Ratchet was trying to direct his focus down to it in a combined effort to make him drink. The moment the energon registered to his dazed senses he was gulping it down with a mixture of relief, self-preservation and a hungry tac-net driving him to make up for orns of bare survival rations.

After that cube was consumed everything seemed a little clearer and another was pressed into his hands--the same high quality as the first--and after he finished it his optics focused and he looked calmly at Ratchet. 

"Better?" the medic grunted.

"Significantly. Thank you," Prowl answered, holding still until Ratchet unplugged. When he moved to stand he wobbled slightly before finding his balance, then fluffed and rippled his armor to settle it and himself. "The edits will take time to acclimate to. Everything is reporting as integrated and functional."

"Good," Ratchet said with a shrug. "Hope it helps. Need anything else tuned up?"

"No, I am in acceptable condition," Prowl stepped away. "Thank you. I will not bother you again."

"I live every day in a cell knowing that soldiers I fought to save and comfort are being trapped, _trapped_ , when they would prefer death," Ratchet said. "There's no way for you to _not bother_ me again. If you'd called it earlier, more could have escaped. If you'd waited, they would have died and wouldn't be suffering. But you chose the most _statistically_ acceptable moment to do what you did." 

Prowl inclined his helm in acceptance of the criticism. "Perhaps things would have gone better if I was not in command. However, you cannot say that I did not react exactly how I was programmed to. For good or ill, I did what I believed was for the best. I still am."

"I know," Ratchet said with a frustrated rumble from his engine. "Primus believe me, I know. That's one of the things that's the most frustrating about all this." He sighed. "You're seeing Sunstreaker? What about Sideswipe?"

"He is currently too violent to be visited," Prowl shrugged and turned to leave.

Starscream followed after him, closing and locking the door behind. "That went well," he commented dryly.

"Significantly better than I anticipated," Prowl shrugged as he followed Starscream into a different wing and level of the building. "Has anyone attempted to approach Sunstreaker?"

"No one but Megatron," Starscream said, wings flicking a little apprehensively.

Prowl hummed. "That is actually a surprisingly good match. They have a common background and value set in many ways."

"They're both brutes?" Starscream said, rolling his optics.

"They are both former gladiators," Prowl corrected. "They both also have unusually sharp processors and an ill-suited core personality for their caste, and emotional protocols even more damaged than mine."

"As I said," Starscream said with a shrug, and then walked in silence the rest of the way to Sunstreaker's cell. He was in a higher security wing than the others, in a much lower level, and Starscream was already prepared for the sight of the once-proud warrior draped in chains that prevented him from reaching the front half of the cell, his back to the wall at he sat on his berth, staring blankly ahead.

"Why is he restrained?" Prowl asked with a scowl when his gaze swept the room and focused on Sunstreaker.

Starscream flicked his wings in a shrug. "Security precaution," he said, after coming Soundwave the question. "That mech's a safety hazard just in his own frame."

Prowl couldn't really argue the point. He'd dealt with Sunstreaker as part of society for far too long not to be intimately familiar with the warrior's temperament. Still he stepped forward until their fields touched, unafraid of a reaction that could deactivate him before even Starscream could save him.

Sunstreaker just looked at him, and as he got closer, finally moved, curling in on himself. "Why're you here," he mumbled.

"I wished to see how you have been treated." Prowl answered, well past any point where he was inclined to try and dissuade any sense that he was a traitor to the Autobot cause and the soldiers he'd surrendered. "When did you stop fighting?"

Sunstreaker shrugged. "D'you know anything about Sides?" he asked, looking up. "Guess he's still alive but I don't know if I believe it."

"I have not seen him yet," Prowl admitted to the truth first. "I understand is he still too aggressive for visitors."

Sunstreaker nodded sadly. "Why're they lettin' you around?"

"I've been compliant, and Starscream understands he must give in order to get," Prowl said. "How has Megatron treated you?"

"Fine, I guess," Sunstreaker said with a shrug. "Not like there's much I can do in here if he didn't."

"You can tell me," Prowl said, careful to select something that was possible and simple. Sunstreaker wasn't one for complicated plans. "Has he told you why he visits?"

Sunstreaker nodded, then smirked. "Like Pit he's gettin' any of this," he said. "That kinda slag's not for me."

"Then you are lucky that their laws prevent him from taking," Prowl hummed. "Has he said why he chose you?"

Sunstreaker shrugged. "Don't care. Maybe he likes a challenge." He peered at Prowl. "All the mecha you could see and you pick me? I know there's more'n me survived."

"I've spent an inordinate number of joors keeping you alive and free to roam the halls to ignore you now," Prowl told him with a huff. "I know you're smart enough to realize you have received more breaks than you should have."

Sunstreaker smirked. "Yeah, that's true enough," he said. "Kind of fond of me, hm?"

"Primus help me," Prowl rolled his optics. "I have this irritating tendency to adopt glitched younglings with the will to survive. Of all of them, you were the most difficult to keep out of the brig, even if your brother was far more annoying."

"Say what you want," Sunstreaker snickered. "I know the truth. Stay a bit? I hate being alone in here."

Prowl's doorwings twitched in amusement. "As long as I can. Do you know what has your bother so jacked up? He usually takes brig time better than you do."

Sunstreaker rubbed at his wrist and turned his head, looking down and to the side. "Isn't just brig time though, is it," he said. "You puttin' us in is one thing. Cons, they're another."

"I did put you in. I just can't let you out this time," Prowl's doorwings twitched again, this time unhappily. "What does Megatron want for unshackling you?"

"Dunno," Sunstreaker said, shrugging. "Haven't asked. You know a way?"

"Not specifically. One consistent aspect is tradeoffs. Cooperation and asking for things is rewarded," Prowl said carefully. "They need us to be willing carriers. They're willing to give what we want for that."

"Yeah, well, not bringin' creations into this fragged up world, so I guess they can just keep me in here," Sunstreaker huffed. "Not gonna be a breeder slave, rather die." 

"That, I expect, will be arranged eventually," Prowl said quietly. "What if it's just one, and not as a slave?"

"Without Sideswipe, and just to have some _Cons_ take it away? Not a chance, Prowl," Sunstreaker said. "Maybe you think you're looking out for me but I won't play their games."

Prowl inclined his helm in acceptance. "Then think about what you want and what you _are_ willing to give to have it. A lack of chains, transfer to the low security level, your brother with you, to go outside, your supplies, access to the sparing room and opponents. Just ... think about it, Sunstreaker. There is a lot of ground between here and freedom, and a lot of concessions between where you're at and carrying." He raised a hand before Sunstreaker could argue. "I'm not saying you should work up to the idea of carrying Megatron's spawn. I am saying that this isn't the place to be drawing lines at giving nothing. The war's over. We lost. There will be no rescue this time. There's no one out there left to try."

Sunstreaker glared off to the side, fists clenching and unclenching. "Does it have to be _Con_ sired?" he asked.

Prowl looked directly at Starscream.

"I can't speak for Lord Megatron since he's the one courting you, but as far as I know we need a population boost more than we need specific sparklines continued," the seeker shrugged. "If you'll behave like a good civilian, you can get out of here and raise it yourself."

Sunstreaker growled at the seeker. "Yeah, like I'd believe anything coming from _you_."

"Then ask Megatron or have Prowl repeat it for all I care," Starscream flicked his wings in dismissal. "The bottom line is that if I lie about anything related to Autobots and the terms I'll _never_ get a shot at the mech I _want_ to be with. Prowl and Megatron will see to it. Do you doubt Prowl will punish me for lying about this?"

Sunstreaker stared at him fro a moment. "Prowl..." He looked at the Praxian, then back to the seeker, and then began to laugh. "Oh, mech, _you_ and _Prowl?_ Please tell me that's some kind of joke!"

"It isn't," Starscream said coldly. 

The volume of Sunstreaker's laughter doubled.

"Megatron ordered it," Prowl said dryly. "Likely assuming I would be too frigid to or horrified to go through with it."

"Oh, that is rich," Sunstreaker said after laughing for what felt like kliks to the other two. "I can't really decide which one of you got the worse deal--no offense, Prowl."

"None taken. I assure you that I have the worse deal," Prowl actually grumbled. "He gets the enjoyable part."

"Wha--oh, well _you're_ certainly no joy ride," Starscream snapped before looking at Sunstreaker. "You know he's only out here because I had to threaten Megatron for it?" 

"Really now," Sunstreaker said, leaning back and looking pleased with himself. "Tell me more."

But before Starscream could answer, Prowl was in his face and growling. "All that's required of _you_ is a single spark overload and then you can go on to whoever it is you want. _I_ have to support and construct the creation, which includes being functionally immobile for metacycles. And that's assuming you're going to raise it. If not, I get to devote three more centuries _at a minimum_ to it," Prowl snarled back as his doorwings rose aggressively.

"Well that's nice, isn't it!" Starscream said, matching the lifted doorwings. "Just _assume_ that I'm going to spark you up and leave! What about any of this makes you think that I won't want frame influence! And for the love of Primus, _why_ would you think I'd just abandon the thing like that! This is _my_ intelligence we're trying to pass on, here!"

"Because Megatron ordered you to create, not have anything to do with it afterwards," Prowl snapped back. "It's no secret the only reason you come close to me is that you don't have a choice in the matter."

"Well, _yes_ , but that doesn't mean I won't want anything to do with my creation," Starscream said, throwing his wings back in exasperation. "You must think we're all savage, mindless brutes!"

"Yes." Prowl's succinct, blunt answer was out of character enough that even Starscream realized something was _wrong_ with the mech. "That's what mecha with no respect for the law are."

"Good summary." Sunstreaker snorted.

"We have no respect for law which promotes inequality and class warfare, there's a difference," Starscream said, as he took a somewhat wary step back from the Praxian.

Something clicked in Prowl and his doorwings settled, though he was no less upset. "Then tell me, what did Praxus do to deserve being razed? What did the millions of citizens there do to deserve to be slaughtered?" His voice was quiet, steady, yet the subject was one that warranted great care.

"Praxus ... was a mistake," Starscream said carefully. "A mistake made in anger, and pain. The civilians should have been given more warning, time to get to refugee camps."

"What did the leaders _do_ , Starscream?" Prowl pressed the subject, but his tone was more pleading, desperate to know. "I was a ranking Enforcer. Part of my function was to watch planetary politics. I saw the war coming. We were aggressive in our neutrality. We turned away Autobots as harshly as Decepticons. What did we _do?_ "

"Substantial evidence was offered that the missile that destroyed Vos came from Praxus," Starscream said, begrudgingly.

Prowl went stock still, his optics brightening in shock and his doorwings flared out in disbelief. It took him half a klik to sort out his thoughts enough to speak again. "Did the evidence hold up to time?"

Starscream glanced at Sunstreaker, who was watching with a _don't mind me_ expression, then back to Prowl and canted his wings in a negative.

Prowl's doorwings sank in acceptance and grief as his temper dissipated. "So collateral damage," he said quietly, sinking into a more normal state for him. "There was a lot of collateral damage."

"Yes, there was," Starscream said, and pinged Rumble to take the Vosian novels out of Prowl's cell and replace them with a different set of bookfiles.

"So uh..." Sunstreaker said, looking between them. "D'you think, it would be possible to send a letter to Sides?"

Starscream nodded and fished out a datapad. "Compose and I will make sure it's delivered tomorrow," he said, before focusing on Prowl. "Do you want to go back?"

"I'd still like to see the sky," Prowl said calmly, ready for it to be refused after his outbursts.

Starscream just nodded and led him out. They walked in silence, going up in the lift to the surface, and the outside to the central grounds gardens.

"Who still knows how to garden crystals?" Prowl asked with genuine surprise at the visual. It was nothing like Praxus, but the beginnings of what would eventually become a beautiful garden were laid out and growing.

"Barricade does most of it," Starscream said with a shrug, looking around. "Gets some help now and then from anyone who wants to learn."

Prowl's doorwings flicked in a bit of private amusement. "I didn't believe he was that well educated. Nice to know he remembered a useful skill," he hummed as they walked. Slowly he moved a bit closer, closing their proximity just enough to touch doorwing to wing in a silent but very visible apology.

Starscream gave him a bemused look and flicked his wing in question. "And what's with you?"

"Learning to deal with emotional protocols for the first time," Prowl said quietly. "The tac-net kept them to a background whisper until the edits."

"Er. You mean that back in the cell?" Starscream asked. "And why are you apologizing to _me?_ "

Prowl gave him a look that managed to mix confusion with disbelief. "My outburst was uncalled for."

"Yeah but..." Starscream stared at him with just as much bewilderment. "I wouldn't really call that an _outburst_. I mean, I make more of a fuss than that if someone uses my favorite console. You're worrying about raising _creations_."

"It was excessive for me, no matter the subject. I did not react so strongly to Praxus," Prowl could say little more.

"Okay then," Starscream said, shrugging. "You need to go back to a medic for it or is it normal adjustment?"

"It is expected. I've never experienced strong emotions before. I do not have the skills to deal with them," Prowl accepted the unnecessary nature of the apology and shifted away.

Starscream gave him another strange look, but decided not to push the issue. "We can stay out here for two joors," he added. He wasn't sure what to make of Prowl's silence as they walked, but the grounder's field was steady enough that he knew it wasn't anger directed at him.

::Prowl: condition stable?:: Soundwave pinged him after another klik.

::I think so?:: Starscream said. ::I don't know, this mech's bizarre. _You're_ easier to understand than he is.::

::Soundwave: sane. Prowl: questionably sane,:: the host responded. ::Lord Megatron: pleased with results of Prowl's visitations. Future visits: to be encouraged.::

::I am _not_ helping Lord Megamoron get any spark action until I have Brainstorm,:: Starscream snapped, suddenly displeased with how well the meeting with Sunstreaker had gone.

::Spark merge: unlikely.:: Soundwave stated. ::Autobot emotional state: improved in three of four mecha. Red Alert: particularly improved.::

::Oh,:: Starscream said. ::Well, yeah, okay, if it's gonna be better for the others, sure. Just not Sunstreaker. I still want him to spurn our brave leader.::

::Understood,:: Soundwave replied before closing the connection.

Starscream rolled his optics and spent the rest of the two joors watching Prowl walk around in complete silence, just _looking_ at things. The mech was definitely a few steps off of sanity, Starscream decided. No one should be content to be silent for that long. 

When it was time to go back in, Prowl came without resistance, willingly following Starscream back down to his cell. When he entered, Starscream watched the doorwings immediately sweep to the single new object in the room, a selection of natural history texts that had been placed upon the desk.

Prowl took a quick few steps forward and ghosted his fingers over the datapads before turning to Starscream with a smile. "Thank you."

"Ah, of course," Starscream said, canting his wings a bit. "It isn't new reading, of course, but it's better than nothing."

"Far better than nothing." Prowl agreed, then hesitated before walking up to the seeker and reaching up to kiss him. Soft and chaste and a bit uncertain against Starscream's charcoal lip plates, but more than a quick caress. There was no question what this was, even for a casual observer.

Starscream's optics flashed with surprise and for a moment, he didn't respond, and then he pressed back. Lightly, but enough that Prowl could feel some pressure, wings lifting with interest.

Prowl was a degree warmer when he drew back. "Keep working with me, and I will work to make this happen."

Starscream nodded once, searching the Praxian's face and found it a bit easier to read than it had once been to find both unease and calmness there. He wasn't sure if that was because of the increased emotional content or that he was simply getting better at reading what signs there were, but he had to consider it progress. "Then that is what I will do."


	3. From One Leader to Another

Megatron watched the surveillance that Soundwave was streaming to him showing Prowl being escorted down to his reception chamber. The Praxian had requested to meet with him, and while Megatron would have agreed anyway, he'd enjoyed making Starscream beg for it. Soundwave had predicted the request from the former Autobot leader, and counseled Megatron that it would be advantageous. The surviving Autobots, while not exactly loyal to Prowl, did seem to respect his judgment for the most part. Neither of them doubted it was because the Praxian was ruthlessly logical and detail oriented. Whether one liked his decisions or not, they could count on there being a solid tactical reason for them.

The door slid open and the Praxian walked in.

"Lord Megatron, thank you for agreeing to this meeting," Prowl inclined both helm and doorwings politely. His manner was one of a defeated commander, deferential to his host but still very much a commander.

"You're welcome," Megatron said, a little bit amused by the whole thing. "What brings you here, Prowl?"

"A desire to better understand the government you wish to establish, and the plans for the surviving Autobots," Prowl said smoothly, his stance relaxed but professional. Even now Megatron could see the Enforcer officer the mech had been called to be.

Megatron nodded and gestured to a chair that was appropriate for winged frames. "Surely you are familiar with our political values from our early campaigning?" he said, offering a cube of low grade.

"Yes," Prowl sat and accepted the cube. He took a sip, a statement of trust, before continuing. "However as your stated political values were a very close match to Optimus Prime's and you continued the war, I must question the sincerity now that you have the power to do as you wish."

"Optimus Prime was a _Prime_ , and invariably would have brought about the same misfortunes that befell this planet under the rule of past Primes," Megatron said. "He refused to step aside, and so we refused to surrender. Primes lead to class inequality and misuse of those who are less able to help themselves. That is why we continued to fight."

Prowl didn't debate the point, he simply inclined his helm in acceptance of the statement. It was like Praxus. It had happened. Now all he sought were reasons to fill the voids in his knowledge. It hurt more than it should, but he was still able to manually shut emotions away.

"How will leaders be determined?" Prowl asked.

"A council will be elected by popular district vote," Megatron said. "It will take some time, but the entire planet will be united under a single governing system. Mecha will be represented. I will head that council until my deactivation."

"How will your replacement be determined?" Prowl asked, careful, curious and very focused on the likely key weakness of the system.

"However I choose," Megatron said, tone mild. "If the planet seems mature enough for a vote at that time, it will be a vote. If not, I will select another to rule in my stead."

"That is a significant risk, not to have a system in place if you deactivate with insufficient warning," Prowl commented more than countered and sipped his energon. "Sudden spark failure, a lucky shot, an outside threat. You are very difficult to deactivate, but you are not invulnerable. As a citizen, it would concern me greatly."

"All problems that we are working to address," Megatron said, nodding towards Soundwave. "There are contingencies--which, it may comfort you to know, do bypass Starscream." He chuckled at the glint of amusement in Prowl's optics and the twitch of white lip plates. "You understand, of course, why I am uncomfortable releasing all such details to a formerly hostile POW."

"Completely," Prowl said, and meant it. "So long as a system is in place. Details are for the citizens," he actually relaxed back in the chair slightly. "Which does bring us rather neatly to the core of what I wish to know. What is the intended long-term status of the former Autobots that cooperate? I have heard talk of becoming citizens, among other things, but no details on how that might happen."

"We are going to take the rehabilitation of former enemies very slowly, and very seriously," Megatron said. "Those who are best behaved will be offered a parole, of sorts. Escorted, tagged, with limited to no transformation capabilities. Over time, limitations will be lifted, and rights restored. This is a brand new road we will have to travel together, one step at a time."

"Agreed. If I may suggest it, having the process, including all rights, responsibilities and expectations for all parties involved, written and formalized would give you a significant advantage with the more agreeable mecha, and likely with several less agreeable ones." Prowl said carefully. "Red Alert and myself are the most fixated on such things, but in my experience most mecha respond favorably to knowing what is expected of them. I have already learned that what most Autobots assume is Decepticon culture is not true. Information is the key to combating speculation."

Megatron raised a single optic ridge at him. "I agree wholeheartedly," he said. "We are, however, still quite a ways from active parole, and must first focus on more pressing issues of population."

"I am sure Soundwave passes on most intel to you, particularly when it comes to Starscream's difficulties," Prowl regarded the Lord of Cybertron evenly. "Surely it would be to the benefit of the population issue if carriers are not left to assume the worst. Basic things, such as who will raise the sparkling and where it will be raised," he took a sip of energon. "If a mecha may request who they wish as a sire. Even as crippled as my emotional protocols are, such questions are responsible for sixty percent of my reluctance. For those in a relationship, it will be much higher."

Megatron regarded him silently for a long moment. "I am certain you will understand my reservations in letting two Autobots create and raise a creation together, without significant Decepticon influence. Carriers and sires both have custody and rights to their creations that no one else can match, and a particular influence that no one else will equal. At this time, I am not interested in bringing new life into the world that does not have some kind of attachment to the true and legal government. Autobots may choose a different sire after their first creation, but for now, I have assigned those I believe the most capable of performing their tasks."

"How would custody work, with one creator in prison?" Prowl asked politely. "Would the creation spend half their time in the cell?"

"Carriers will be moved to compounds that are even now being constructed specifically for their needs," Megatron said. "They will live there, under house arrest, but the grounds are spacious and comfortable. Sires may come and go as they please, but others will need permission. That is where the creations will live, and their sires may take them out for trips."

Prowl's doorwings relaxed. "It will be most interesting to see how well this works." His focus shifted to Soundwave. "How is Jazz behaving?"

"Jazz: is not responding well to captivity," the host said, and he sounded disappointed by that fact. "Behavior: continues to show intense hostility and mistrust."

"At least he's being honest with you then. You have the truth to work with, and he's not well-prepared to deal with it," Prowl said almost grimly. "It's when he acts sweet and agreeable that you need to watch your back." He cocked his helm slightly. "Does he believe the Matrix was destroyed?"

Soundwave was silent for almost a klik as he reviewed his encounters with the saboteur. "Unknown," he finally said. "Information: has been presented truthfully."

"Sometimes that's all you can do," Prowl gave a small shrug and shifted his gaze to Megatron as something just a little bit dangerous flickered across his optics. "Why Sunstreaker?"

Megatron's mouth curled up in a slow smile. "He is strong, and intriguing," he said.

"That he is. Stubborn, loyal, violent, glitched and arguably the most gifted artist of his generation as well." Prowl said bluntly. "You have a long road ahead of you if you don't break him."

"I desire only the best," Megatron said. "I am willing to travel that road."

It raised an optic ridge, but Prowl made no other comment on the subject. "Then I am done with my questions."

Megatron inclined his helm. "How are you getting along with Starscream?" he asked. "His reports tend to be less focused on you and much more focused on why I a foolish, misguided glitch, so I haven't been able to get a clear picture of the reality."

Prowl genuinely chuckled. "Well enough, most orns. He's self-important, arrogant, ill-tempered, violent, irresponsible and completely lacking in the ability to create and carry out a plan. All of which I'm sure you know better than I do. He's not the Decepticon I would have chosen, which you know, though at least he has some redeeming qualities as a sire."

"I am glad you have found some," Megatron said, sounding genuinely impressed. "Other than his talent, there is really little reason to keep him around anymore. Have you given any serious thought to creating with him?"

"His intellect is his saving grace," Prowl acknowledged. "I have. There is little reason not to," he shrugged. "It's simply a question of how much trouble I'm going to make him go through to earn it. I expect to receive something in compensation for the trouble."

"I would think guaranteed accommodations and the chance at _life_ rather than the traditional execution most would expect of a defeated leader would be enough," Megatron said, casually examining his fingers. 

Prowl's lips curved into a smile that spoke of sadness for Megatron. "You overestimate the value I place on my comfort and survival, then."

Megatron raised an optic ridge at him. "What kind of compensation _would_ interest you, then?"

Prowl's expression settled into one of well-trained neutrality as he met Megatron's gaze. "To be a detective again."

"Quite some time will pass before that is even a possibility," Megatron warned him.

"Currently I calculate the probability of it ever happening at 0.001% if I give full cooperation," Prowl shrugged. "You asked what would interest me. You did not limit it to the realm of feasible. I have no answer to that question. What is reasonable are not things I care about."

"Query: Prowl: enjoys Starscream's gifts and efforts." Soundwave countered as much as questioned.

"Yes, when he remembers his manners," Prowl twitched a doorwing in confirmation. "There is a difference between enjoying something and being motivated by it."

"So Starscream might be working for some time," Megatron said with a pleased smirk. "That will not bother me in the least."

"I know," Prowl canted a doorwing in a mixture of acceptance and annoyance. "If sparklings really were the primary focus, you would have authorized my choice, and allowed Starscream his. Brainstorm is a far better match for him, though not nearly as difficult to court. You would have two sparklings on the way now if you had."

"Sparklings are the primary focus for a majority of cases," Megatron said with an overly sweet smile. "In this case, I am not willing to concede to the demands of enemy commanders and known traitors. If Starscream can behave, he will have his reward, and if you can do the same, we will see about yours."

"I made no demand. I merely answered the question," Prowl pointed out with a casual flick of his doorwing. "As for Starscream, I'd watch a mecha with my processors and his temperament very carefully. Starscream's failing is my strength."

"He is watched," Megatron said with an odd sort of purr. He looked over to his host. "Soundwave, please compile all the available information Prowl has requested to be transferred to him upon completion." He looked back to Prowl. "We will need to make some edits for classified information, but it should be to you within the orn."

"Thank you," Prowl inclined his helm. "Are we finished?"

"We are if you'd like to be," Megatron said, comming the guards back in and giving Prowl a tight smile as he gestured to the exit.


	4. Learning to Touch

"Wheel and axle," Starscream said, peering at his cards.

Prowl shook his head. "Go scrapping," he said. 

"Blast," Starscream muttered and drew a card, fitting it into his hand.

"Spinning wing," Prowl didn't even look at his hand, his gaze steady and exploring the seeker frame across from him. At the moment he couldn't recall when they'd moved from the floor to his berth, but he suspected it was about the same time he'd begun to recharge on the berth.

Starscream's scowled and handed over three matching cards. Prowl gave a small, pleased hum and nestled them alongside his set. "Turbine," he said next. 

"Go scrapping," Starscream said with a smirk. It had been nearly a vorn since the seeker's first visit, and daily routine had gone largely unchanged in that time, but there was a sort of comforting familiarity to the visits. "Alternator."

Prowl handed a single card over with an annoyed flick of one doorwing.

Starscream's wings lifted in pleased triumph. "One thing I've always wondered," he said, debating over his choices. "Why ask for Thundercracker? Hood," he added.

"His reputation for honor," Prowl answered easily, handing the requested card over. "It is something I value."

Starscream frowned as he set six matching cards down next to his other piles. Prowl still had three more than him. "What, seriously? That just makes him uptight and boring. Wheel and axel?"

"Yes, seriously. I happen to be uptight and boring and I like the same," Prowl shrugged. "Go scrapping."

"Frag," Starscream said and took a card. He looked at Prowl. "How'd you even know that about him?"

"It's common knowledge," Prowl cocked his helm. "Or I thought it was. Ops certainly thought it was well known enough they included it in my file on him. I was the Chief Tactical Officer long before I was SIC. Knowing everything was my function. Nosecone."

"Go scrapping. Why Barricade, because he's Praxian?"

"And he was an Enforcer. Even disgraced he at least knows what I was coded to be," Prowl said as he took a card and settled it into his hand. "I already know our coding is compatible enough. I still have doubts about how sane a creation of ours will be."

"Why?" Starscream asked curiously, the cards momentarily forgotten as he looked at Prowl.

Prowl gave him a disbelieving look. "Crossing my limited emotional logic with the all emotion, limited logic that you are can create a personality that cannot function in its frame, or in society at all. Your ambition and my logic would destroy anything it touched. Every reason that my nature could temper yours in a sparkling has an opposite possibility that could be as bad as the tempering is good."

"You don't think that formative coding would arrange to something functional?" Starscream asked. "I never met an insane sparkling, myself, and it would be raised to be much freer that you were."

"Given what I am and what I was designed to be, being raised with such freedoms might just be more than it could handle," Prowl tried not to grumble even as he shifted his protocols around to what he used when testifying in court. A set that meant he didn't have to consciously recall events too traumatic to handle in real time. "As for insane sparklings. Yes, they exist. Praxus Enforcers dealt with an average of one a generation. I have dealt with one. It leaves a lasting impression when you have to shoot a first-stage youngling because his creators could no longer control him and he's already murdered four mecha, including a new sparkling."

Starscream's wings flicked up in shock and he set his cards down face-up on the berth, effectively abandoning the game. "How big is the risk for us?" he asked.

"I don't know," Prowl admitted as he settled back into himself. "From my understanding we are much more likely to create something with a glitch so severe it would short-circuit itself rather than one that is hyper-violent. The overall odds of a glitched mecha creating a glitched sparkling were never studied, though my tac-net is suggesting a total probability for a glitch at thirty-two percent, of which nine percent would be severe, the same severity as mine, three percent would be very severe, which is Red Alert. All those glitches can be functional members of society, though we do require concessions, usually in the form of a specific type of function. It is the point zero zero four percent that is critical. Those sparklings will not survive one way or another."

"And that risk would be little to none with either of the other sires you wanted," Starscream concluded, leaning back onto his elbows, frowning and unsettled. "If I limited or abandoned frame influence, what would that do?"

"It depends on how much of your chaotic nature is in your spark, how much is passed on to the newspark and how your influence would help or harm my ability to build a frame that the newspark can cope with," Prowl sighed. "Or the short form: there's no way to tell beforehand."

Starscream huffed. "What data do you need to form a better conclusion than that?" he asked, wings flicking irritably. 

"To know your spark." Prowl said quietly. "It's the only data I can get before we create."

Starscream twitched a little. "Have you spark merged before?"

"Many times. Spark play is one of my favorites," Prowl twitched his doorwings, not quite ready to assume this was going where he thought it was. But Starscream just nodded and gathered the cards, shuffling them back into a single deck, saying nothing more on the subject.

* * *

Prowl held his field carefully neutral so not to tip off Starscream that he had more in mind for their mutual detailing session than just polishing. His own frame gleamed with an egotistical flier's care to finish and his doorwings were still tingling from it. He was a good joor into working Starscream into a tensionless lump on the berth and was at most half finished with the process that he didn't intend to finish right away. 

It was time to move forward and Prowl was intent on finding out if Starscream enjoyed more than ruff and tumble interfacing. He was honestly a little surprised that he hadn't been forced upon yet, but the other Autobots had reported the same; none of their so-called suitors had pressed for any unwanted physical contact, intimate or not. In fact, some of the others made Starscream seem downright pushy--apparently Onslaught asked for specific permission before even coming within teeking range. 

The detailing sessions had started not too long ago, a suggestion as a way to become familiar with each other's frames, and they both enjoyed the time. Prowl wasn't sure how much of Starscream's enjoyment was just being waited upon and getting a great polish out of it, but he at least was enjoying the greater intimacy with the only mecha he could have it with anymore. 

Starscream hummed, bringing his attention back down. "You polish like a flier," the seeker told him.

"Thank you," Prowl purred as a flare of delight surged through his field. "I enjoy polishing others." He stumbled a bit on the last glyph. Truth was he enjoyed polishing unit-mates, but he wasn't going to call the Decepticon seeker _that_ out loud.

Starscream's wings flicked a little, but he didn't say anything. "You may feel free to do that forever," he said with a contented sigh as white hands roamed his wings. Slowly Prowl leaned forward, his hands continuing to work even as he kissed the back of Starscream's neck. A surprise ripple went through Starscream's field and the wings jumped a little, but he turned his helm to open up more of his neck. "You okay with this?"

"Yes," Prowl murmured as he worked his lips down Starscream's neck while still polishing his wings. "I'm ready for more than polishing."

Starscream's pleasure at that answer was easy to teek and he flattened his wings out to allow for better access, sighing contentedly and flexing his fingers into the padding. "I certainly won't stop you," he said, and then reached up and back to catch Prowl's neck and tugged him into a light kiss that was returned. Then Prowl's glossa caressed Starscream's lip plates in an effort to deepen it.

The seeker twisted at the waist, pushing himself up onto his elbows and tilted his helm, glossa flicking out. A shiver of thrill went through his field--Prowl couldn't teek the source, but it was good whatever it was--and the kiss suddenly deepened. Whether it was because Prowl hadn't been faced in probably centuries or because he might actually not mind Starscream, the response was amazing.

Prowl felt his entire frame light up in response to interfacing protocols he hadn't paid much attention to since before Praxus fell. It was hot, mind-numbing and grabbed the full extent of his focus to an degree he didn't think possible. Despite beginning the intimate kiss, Prowl quickly found himself lost to anything more than moaning into it as his field expressed his desire.

Starscream was panting by the time they parted, and he twisted fully around, pressing up against Prowl and wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling their frames flush as he held them up on his other arm. 

Still a bit dazed, Prowl turned his kisses to Starscream's neck while his hands sought out all the places other than the wings that he'd learned felt good for the seeker over the last vorn. He wasn't sure when his spike cover had slid open and he wasn't going to spend the effort to work it out. All he cared about was the pleasure rolling off the mech under him and crackling through his own circuits.

He could feel Starscream's hand on his side, his waist, lower until fingers circled around him and the seeker's field gave a delighted thrill and he suddenly pushed up against Prowl, _demand_ flaring out. Prowl growled and grabbed a wing, pushing back, twisting Starscream's frame around until he was face-forward on the berth, hips in his hands and already bared. He rubbed his nearly pressurized spike through the slick platelets and moaned before drawing back and pressing inside. It was a bliss long-forgotten, but no less intense for having been abandoned for so long.

Starscream shuddered beneath him, valve clenching down and cycling around him. His hips rocked back to meet Prowl's thrusts, static striking across their frames as they lost themselves in the rhythm and familiar pleasure they both enjoyed.

It was all too soon when Prowl's fingers tightened on Starscream's hips and the pace increased, driving the seeker forward with every thrust.

Starscream grunted with each push, his own frame responding just as fast--and distantly Prowl wondered why someone who interfaced regularly would get charged as quickly as he was--and his wings canted back, tense and trembling with the building tension that was taking over his entire frame. Prowl bent forward over him and grabbed the top of his wing, pulling back, and Starscream shouted, charge flooding into his valve and enveloping Prowl's spike.

It was more than enough to drive Prowl over the edge and he roared as he ground their arrays together and pumped thick, charged transfluid deep into his lover with every jerking grind.

Starscream groaned in pleasure as their overloads mingled and dragged each other out before his frame slumped forward, panting, chest down and aft still lifted up against Prowl. "Well that was nice."

Prowl managed a disjointed hum of agreement as he shivered minutely against Starscream's back.

"Were you planning on that all along?" Starscream asked, stretching and purring, flexing his valve around the spike inside. Prowl gave a small thrust and moan in response.

"Yes," Prowl murmured. "Tired of being alone."

Starscream was quiet for a little while. "So am I," he admitted, reaching back to touch Prowl's thigh as the grounder turned the statement over in his processors a few times.

"I would have thought you would have ample attention," Prowl murmured as he reluctantly drew back and flopped to his side next to Starscream and slid close to the still-warm frame.

"Hmm." Starscream rolled onto his side and snuggled up. "I can grab Skywarp pretty easily when I want, but I'm not the most enticing companion to most. I can't imagine why," he added with a smirk.

Prowl chuckled and shifted in the snuggle enough for a kiss. "Rank and power are usually quite a draw, unless Decepticons have similar anti-fraternization rules as Autobots had?"

"Mm, no. You can interface with whoever you want," Starscream said. "Hasn't helped me much, but I've never minded much. Company is more often annoying than not."

A hum of understanding and acceptance greeted the statement as Prowl relaxed. "Stay tonight?"

Starscream's wings gave a pleased flick at the request. "Yes," he said, and relaxed with a sigh to drift into recharge.

* * *

Prowl relaxed on his berth, content to read a classic novel from pre-Golden Age Iacon. Starscream had duties to attend to and wouldn't be back for two orns, so when the door slid open Prowl jerked upright, his doorwings flared and old combat protocols roaring to life despite his lack of weapons. In the time it took him to stand he recognized his visitor and began to shut the anti-social protocols down.

"Soundwave," Prowl greeted the mech politely. "What brings you here?"

Soundwave inclined his helm in a silent greeting. "Soundwave: requests Prowl's time and presence. Red Alert: has asked to spend a night with you."

A small, warm smile a flutter of doorwings greeted the statement and Prowl put his bookfile down. "Agreed," he walked to join Soundwave in the airlock between his cell and the corridor. "How has he been?"

"Soundwave: believes he has been well," the host said. "Instances of his glitch: have declined in frequency. Red Alert's mood: much improved."

"Good," Prowl didn't try to conceal that the new pleased him a great deal. "Do you really intend to breed him?" he asked more quietly.

"Red Alert: has remarkable capacity for data and computation," Soundwave said as they reached the cell and opened it. "A creation: would be a boon to society. My intentions: only to be pressed upon should he be stable."

"He does, yet it's insufficient to prevent him from glitching," Prowl sighed. "Have you had any luck keeping his sensory input below 935%?"

"Soundwave: has had luck with the controlled environment," Soundwave said. "Cells surrounding: have been fully filled with noise suppression material." They stepped inside. "Red Alert: hello," the host greeted.

"Soundwave," Red Alert greeted him from the desk. His frame was tense, all but the hand that was resting between Ravage's shoulders. Despite this being on his request, it was out of pattern and he didn't like that. It was largely forgotten when his optics locked onto the second frame waiting patiently behind the host. "Prowl!"

With a small, warm smile Prowl stepped forward, as cautious about Ravage as he was of setting his friend off. He knew protective behavior in a symbiot when he saw it. "Soundwave said you wanted me to spend the night."

"Yes, if you don't mind," Red Alert said with a hopeful smile. "I miss you. It's nice to have someone who understands." 

"I would like that as well," Prowl took two more steps forward and extended his hand, his wrist port open in offer. "It is good to see you so stable."

Red Alert stroked Ravage down the center of the back and the cassette jumped off so he could stand, coming the rest of the way. "Thank you Soundwave," he said, dismissing the host, and plugged into the offered wrist port before leading Prowl to the berth. ~I've missed you so much.~

~As I have missed you.~ Prowl nearly groaned at the contact with a trusted processor. Despite that, it was clear that he was doing better. ~You feel much more stable.~

~I am,~ Red Alert said. ~Soundwave gave me control of the inner doors. Not even Megatron can open them if I don't allow.~

Prowl smiled warmly, his pleasure at such an act raising his already good opinion of Soundwave significantly. Gradually he guided Red Alert to sit on the berth so they could eventually relax and recharge together, safe in a trusted field. ~You seem rather fond of Ravage,~ he noted as the feline settled along the length of the bed on the floor, visibly making a barrier of herself and guarding the pair. ~And she of you.~

~We understand each other,~ Red Alert said with a fond smile for the symbiot. ~And how have you been, dear spark?~

~Strange. I'm starting to like Starscream.~ Prowl poked at the emotions again. ~It can't be right, yet I am.~

~Why can't it be right?~ Red Alert said, then giggled. ~Other than it being _Starscream._ ~

~It's _Starscream_ ,~ Prowl huffed, but there was amusement there. ~Seriously, he has so few redeeming qualities. Can you really imagine _me_ with _him_?~

~Not one bit,~ Red Alert said. ~He must have been behaving himself if you're willing to consider it, though, which is surprising enough.~

~More than behaving,~ Prowl cued up several memories ranging from their tactical games and random chatter to the polishing and interfacing that sometimes followed, and recharging next to the seeker. ~He's being nice, attentive, even indulgent of me. No one's ever tried that hard. I haven't gotten to drive again, but I go outside and visit others regularly. If I didn't know he was being forced into this, I'd be flattered by it.~

~Ah, yes,~ Red Alert said with a bit of a rueful smile. ~Soundwave told me all about that. It seems strange that a culture so insistent on consent would force both of you into it.~

~I know. It's because Megatron wanted to punish Starscream and he never conceived of the possibility that I'd agree to it. He believed he was giving Starscream an unwinnable challenge.~ Prowl sighed and snuggled close, not nearly as adverse to showing affection as he once was. ~The real question is whether Starscream believes in the Decepticon moral code at his core. I know he'll be upset when he grasps that just because I don't blame him, it's still nonconsensual for both of us. I don't know how upset he'll be.~

Red Alert kissed his friend's forehelm, rubbing his back. ~I hear the compound is comfortable. I've been ... considering agreeing to kindle. It wouldn't be a bad life, I don't think.~

~No, it isn't. Particularly if they follow through with the agreement to install our t-cogs after separation. You know how twitchy I get when I can't drive. Bluestreak is far worse.~ Prowl nuzzled him in return and questioned if his growing arousal was a response to a mech he admitted he would have taken as a mate if they'd met in a different place and time, or simply do to being acclimated to responding with arousal to affection. ~Would you go into stasis early in the carry, or remain aware?~

~I think it would be better if I went into stasis,~ Red Alert said as light arousal played back along the hardlines, relaxed and with no intent behind it, but enjoying the calm intimacy that the war had never allowed. ~I'd like to remain aware, but the risks...~ He shook his helm. ~I don't think I would be able to handle the increased significance of my personal safety. Or carrier coding making me want to interface.~ His unease at the idea was clear. 

~I agreed,~ Prowl backed up the choice with a pulse of emotional support. ~Soundwave is likely a good balance for you. Calm, methodical, organized. If anything can counter your hyper-focused security issues and the glitch they caused it will be him.~

Red Alert nodded. ~I think so,~ he said, settling in comfortably with his friend. 

~Have you told him yet?~ Prowl hummed softly as they both settled into pre-recharge laxness. ~I'm sure he knows, being what he is, but it's not the same as you saying it to him.~

~Not yet,~ Red Alert said. ~I want to be certain it's what I _want_ first. So does Soundwave.~

Prowl hummed his agreement as well as sent a pulse of the sensation across the hardline. ~I'm glad you find him acceptable.~

~I do. It's more than I thought we'd get if we lost.~ Red Alert gave a happy sigh and returned the pulse. ~This is nice.~

~It is,~ Prowl's purr deepened with the pleasure of _companionship_ he hadn't known in so very painfully long. ~It's much more than I expected for myself if we'd won.~

~What did you think would happen if we won?~ Red Alert asked with a brush of concern.

~A continuation of the war, with less fighting,~ Prowl sort of shrugged even as he sent reassurance to his friend. ~Prime would keep me close to manage the government, organize the rebuilding and deal with the bureaucracy in general.~

~Oh, my darling,~ Red Alert sighed, holding Prowl tightly. ~And Prime never would have understood how little choice you have. Does Starscream understand what your function means?~

~I seriously doubt it. I'm not keen on him finding out beyond that I want to be a detective again, badly.~ Prowl sighed. ~Manipulative as he is, he'd find a way to use it. I might like him now, but trusting him only goes so far.~

~No one trusts him,~ Red Alert agreed, then smiled and hummed though another light, relaxed brush of sensation through their hardline connection.

* * *

Soundwave came in the next morning right on schedule to return Prowl to his own cell. Prowl could feel Red Alert's reluctance across the hardline, but the former security director opened the inner door. ~Thank you,~ he murmured to his friend, touching Prowl's chest below the connection.

~You are welcome, and my thanks for this. It is good to relax in trust,~ Prowl smiled and mirrored the touch before resting their forehelms together as they disconnected and spooled the cables up. "I look forward to our next meeting."

"As do I," Red Alert said. "Thank you, Soundwave." 

"Soundwave: is happy to provide," the host said with what sounded like a touch of warmth in his voice. "Prowl: follow."

Prowl flicked his doorwings in an agreement to comply and followed without fuss, quiet and poised, though he knew his field and frame were still warm, relaxed and happy for the time spent with his friend, and Prowl did dare classify him as a friend now.

"Soundwave: is grateful," Soundwave said after they reached Prowls' cell. "Red Alert: teeks much better now." 

"I'm pleased that it is working so well for all of us," Prowl smiled slightly, his field warming a bit more towards Soundwave at the statement. "I'm glad to help him. You and Ravage are handling him very well," he added, willing to express support for Soundwave's efforts with confidence that Red Alert approved of them.

"Thank you," the host replied in his same droning monotone. "Query: Prowl, plans to kindle with Starscream?" 

"Yes," Prowl nodded with an affirmative cant to his doorwings. "The risks of a critical glitch in a creation are acceptably low."

Soundwave seemed to frown through his field. "Explain further," he ordered.

"If our creation develops my tactical and logic centers but his emotional protocols, there is a 73.88% likelihood that it would short circuit itself in a critical, fatal glitch within its first five vorns and would have no possibility of a useful existence. One that develops my tactical and logic centers and his ambition with none of the loyalty coding I have would destroy everything it came near and would have to be put down as a sparkling before it became a danger to the general population." Prowl elaborated. "That neither of its creators are suited to raising well-adjusted member of society because of our own issues decreases the odds of any creation of ours being completely sane."

"Understood," Soundwave said, nodding as he opened the doors to Prowl's cell, one then the other, and watched him walk in.

"Come in and sit for a while if you can," Prowl extended an unusual offer. "I'd like to talk about Jazz. He's not behaving normally at all."

Soundwave looked at him, silent and still, for a long moment before inclining his helm and following after the former enforcer. "Query: Prowl is concerned about Jazz?"

Prowl sat on his berth and motioned to the chair in offering to Soundwave if he wanted it. "I may not like him on a personal or professional level, but he was an Autobot, and still is my responsibility to some extent. He should have been among the first to settle and adapt, yet from what I have heard he is no more reasonable than he was when he first woke. That concerns me."

Soundwave nodded slowly. "Continue."

He regarded the host steadily, a reminder that even downgraded in priority, Prowl had one of the finest analytical processors ever created. "Why did you choose him?"

"Jazz: has extraordinary capabilities," Soundwave said. "Creating with him: would yield highly useful offspring."

"True," Prowl agreed. "Why is he so hateful towards you?"

"Assumption: Jazz is hateful towards Soundwave specifically, and not Decepticons in general," Soundwave said. "Prowl: has no basis for said assumption."

"Basis: knowledge from working, planning and interacting with him for five hundred and eighty vorns," Prowl said evenly. "Basis: watching Jazz interact with and even take in Decepticons, at times against orders. Basis: Jazz values nothing over his freedom. In my educated assessment, this behavior is extremely out of character for him. If it is not from severe processor damage, it is because of a connection to you."

Soundwave released a sound that sounded almost like a sigh. "Prowl: is correct," he admitted when faced with the other's ample experience with his charge. "Soundwave and Jazz: had ... non-professional affiliations before the war."

That stilled the tactician for a long moment before he nodded. "Would I be correct to say that it did not end amicably?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave said.

Prowl let out a sigh and rubbed his chevron. "Will you accept help in getting him to see reason?"

"Soundwave: will consider accepting aid," the host said. "Soundwave: has abused his authority in this matter," he added guiltily.

Prowl hummed. "Has Jazz had any other company?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave said. "Recently. His condition: made it apparent that he was in need of friendly company."

"Blaster, Bumblebee, Mirage, Whiplash, Hound. I know Whiplash is still stuck in solitary because no one is willing to be in a room with him, but the other four might help. Whiplash is the one that can talk sense to him though. Probably the only one that isn't afraid of him," Prowl spelled it out. "I know Whiplash is scary, but he and Jazz have a connection I stopped trying to make sense of a long ago. I'd be willing to believe they are twins, or spark-bound, but Ratchet swears neither one is."

"Information: useful," Soundwave said. "Soundwave: grateful."

Prowl inclined his helm in acceptance. "You are welcome. I'd be willing to try and talk to him, though I'm not sure he'd listen or say anything useful. He's spent most of our acquaintance trying to confound me. You likely know his feelings towards me better than I do."

Soundwave inclined his helm silently, looking at Prowl through the expressionless visor for a bit before he was pinged that Starscream had landed and was headed inside.

"Starscream: approaching," he said. "Soundwave: bids farewell." 

"Good luck," Prowl offered what else he could and settled on the berth with a tingle of excitement. Stretching out, relaxed and on his back with his doorwings splayed out, he knew exactly what kind of image he was presenting to the seeker.

Starscream walked through the door about ten kliks later, and stopped the moment he saw Prowl, wings lifting with interest before a lazy smirk slid over his face. " _Well,_ " he said, stepping forward, making a slow, curving approach to fully enjoy the sight.

"Finally back to stay for a while?" Prowl asked as he slid a lazy hand down his abdominal plates and lifted one knee up suggestively.

"If I wasn't planning on it I am now," Starscream said as he slid up onto the berth, trailing his fingers up the raised leg. "You and Red Alert certainly looked cozy."

"A different kind of cozy than we are," Prowl chuckled as the touch sent a flare of arousal though him. "Was your work anything you can talk about?"

Starscream cocked his head at him before lowering down to run a series of kisses up Prowl's inner thigh, optics staying lifted up as he felt as much of heard Prowl moan and the grounder's temperature shoot up. "I suppose, but I don't know how interesting it is. Are you bored in here?"

"Immensely." Prowl answered honestly as he watched Starscream with darkening optics.

Starscream hummed. "So would you rather hear about my work, or..." The kisses moved higher. "Would you prefer I do something else with my time?" He paused, then smirked. "Or I could tell you all about work _while_ fragging you."

"Definitely interfacing," Prowl moaned, shivering at the teasing, erotic touches. "If you've got enough processor to talk work, you aren't paying enough attention to me."

"Well all right," Starscream said with a chuckle, shifting forward and pressing his mouth against Prowl's valve cover, taking a moment to x-vent over it before licking in a slow circle. "After, then, and you tell me some things that would help you be less bored."

Prowl moaned something like an affirmative as his hips rolled into the touch and his valve cover slid open to display a glistening rim of platelets. Starscream gave a pleased smirk at the response and blew warm, focused air over them, enjoying the way it made them shiver, responding eagerly. He leaned in, swirling his glossa around in ever-smaller circles until he was pressing right against the entrance, teasing Prowl with small, shallow pushes. Prowl tried to rock into the contact as a frustrated whine escaped him, but his field was thick with pleasure, lust and want.

Starscream continued with the teasing until the Praxian's engines were revving and his frame was panting, then drew up with a slow, lazy lick and moved to cover Prowl with his own frame. He pressed in for a kiss that was eagerly given and hungrily returned. Reaching back to pull Prowl's leg up he nudged their hips together, and Prowl could clearly feel the seeker's spike as it rubbed through his platelets.

"Tease," Prowl gasped, half compliment and half complaint even as he went lax, physically and willingly submitting to his lover's plans.

"And here I thought you _liked_ being teased," Starscream said with slow rock.

Prowl's valve clamped down around open air and he growled with need but remained lax. "I like the results. Not the process."

Starscream smirked. "I like the process," he said, and gave another slow slide through the platelets.

"Because you like it when your lover fights you before somebody submits," Prowl groaned and rolled his hips into the next slide, shivering at the jolts of pleasure it sent through him. "Pretty sure if I tried that a guard would shoot me."

"Pretty sure not," Starscream purred, but still slipped back and lined his spike up for a shallow thrust. "Not unless I called them."

"Someone's watching," Prowl insisted and shuddered as he gripped the berth and tried to capture that spike with his calipers. "Make sure I don't hurt you."

"No one cares," Starscream said, and let the Praxian push back a little before pulling away, moving opposite to the light rocking. He waited a beat, and then slammed forward. Prowl howled as his engine roared and his valve flexed and tightened to grip and rub the spike spreading him open. All thought was happily lost to that pleasure and the singular focus of following and predicting Starscream's alternating movements to drive them both to a hard, fast overload. 

That fast overload wasn't what Starscream was after, and he shifted to shallow thrusts, then slow, deep ones, before giving Prowl the deep, powerful thrust that made him keen and his optics white out every time. Starscream was playing his frame, and from the teek, enjoying it immensely. Prowl was on the verge of grabbing the Seeker in order to fight him onto his back and ride him until they were both satisfied when the pace suddenly quickened, and the control in Starscream's field vanished. 

The red and white frame covered his and Starscream's harsh pants filled the air as they ground together, their charge driving their movements and the built-in need to answer that charge to full overload. Prowl gasped, rocked and clung to his lover as each grinding thrust pushed him that much closer to the limit of his systems.

Starscream's overloads were always loud and unmistakable, and this one was no different, the scream coming right next to his audial as the seeker shuddered forward and froze, locked with the force of the current slamming through his frame as he pumped rich, thick, crackling hot transfluid deep into Prowl to set off an ever stronger overload into the shuddering, keening Praxian.

Slowly, deliciously slowly, the pair relaxed from the onslaught, their fans on high, armor loose and pinging as it cooled and the air shimmering around them.

"Good start," Prowl murmured.

" _Start?_ " Starscream squawked indignantly, pushing himself up and pinning Prowl back. "That's just a _start?_ " 

"If you're going to be a sire, one that influences the sparkling, you'll have to give me much more than that," Prowl purred and cycled his valve calipers. "I'll be a _very_ grouchy carrier if I have to satisfy myself."

"Well you're not carrying now, so that should have been pretty damn satisfying," Starscream said, smirking and rocking his hips a little.

"Yes, but not proof you are a fit sire," Prowl rocked back into the motion, far more eager than he usually was. "It'll all be this too, your spike in my valve. Most mecha can't even activate their spike while carrying."

Starscream mock-scowled at him. "Do you have to be so dire?" he complained, and straightened, thrusting a bit harder, field clearly enjoying. "That's still plenty far off."

"I just want to be sure you're capable," Prowl rumbled as he sank into the pleasure and did his best to return it. "Though you are right. It won't be tonight," he murmured as he reached to draw Starscream's face to his for a kiss that was as slow and enjoyable as the slow thrusting of their frames.

"Mm, no." Starscream settled into a steady rhythm, more relaxed than their previous movements, engines purring. "I can think of plenty else to do."


	5. Moving Forward

Prowl's optics were powered down and closed, his field open and relaxed. It was rather marvelous to the seeker sharing the deep hot oil pool with him. Yes, Prowl had described what he considered absolute, indulgent luxury. Yes, this room basically covered it all, but it still amazed Starscream that his carrier reacted so strongly to it.

His carrier.

The seeker smiled at the thought. True, they hadn't done the deed yet. They hadn't even spark merged yet. But Prowl talked of it openly and would discuss it even without interfacing involved. He had no doubt the Praxian meant it. Unlike himself, Prowl wasn't inherently deceptive. He was far too logical and ordered for it.

He was even, dare he admit, starting to look forward to it. And not just because it meant getting Brainstorm, finally. Because ... he was kind of starting to like Prowl. As infuriatingly stubborn and _logical_ as the Praxian could be. 

He moved carefully over to Prowl, cloth in hand. It wouldn't do any good for cleaning, but rubbing the oil into his wings and frame as a massage would probably make him melt even more than he already was. Prowl's near doorwing waved lazily in welcome, his field open and relaxed as it caressed Starscream with the intensity of his pleasure at this indulgence.

It felt _good_ , and it just cemented Starscream's acceptance that he wanted Prowl to be happy because it felt good to Starscream.

It was a strange thing for him to try to accept. _Starscream_ cared for no one but himself--or at least, that was how it was supposed to be. 

With an irritated flick of his wings he refocused on the task, calming quickly once he had Prowl's doorwing in his hands. The easy, repetitive motion of rubbing the oil around in circles was soothing for them both, and both frames were purring deeply before long. Prowl was almost falling into recharge right there in the pool under Starscream's attentions, frame lax pulled almost all the way into the seeker's lap, one arm snugly around his waist and the other attending to a doorwing. 

After a while, Starscream subspaced the cloth and switched it out with a small treat--the shape of a cube, coated with small bits of crystallized energon, and held it up to Prowl's mouth. White lip plates parted at the faint touch, and a deep moan rolled up from inside Prowl as his glossa registered what was going on and woke him for it. The lax pleasure of the hot oil was joined by a touch of arousal at the inherently erotic act of being fed treats.

Starscream hummed, pleased with the response, and made a note to thank Sirocco for the tip later on. It had apparently worked wonders with Bluestreak, and seemed to be doing just as well with Prowl. "You look good like this," he murmured, optics dimmed and field soaking in the sated joy that was radiating off of the Praxian.

"Feels good," Prowl trilled around the half melted treat before sinking into enjoying it once more as his entire being radiated his pleasure.

Starscream smiled and nuzzled their helms together. It was an overtly and even sickeningly sweet physical gesture but he knew that Prowl enjoyed them, and besides, it wasn't like anyone was here to watch. He smirked to himself. It wasn't as though Megatron had cameras in his private washracks--no one else was supposed to be able to get in. 

The next treat was traced over Prowl's lips before Starscream leaned around and tipped the Praxian's helm far enough to kiss the corner of his mouth, licking at the dust that coated the warm metal. The lick was greeted with an energon-coated glossa licking back and the low rumble of building arousal from Prowl's engine as he twisted enough to claim a real kiss, sharing the treat between their mouths.

Starscream hummed deeply as the lingering kiss continued on, slow and smooth and familiar between them before he pulled back and slipped another treat up. "Do you like this flavor?" he asked.

"Yes," Prowl purred deeply as he intentionally captured Starscream's fingers in his mouth as he accepted the treat.

"Mmm, good," Starscream purred back, enjoying the thrill of power that came with watching Prowl's eagerness for the treats and the lack of resistance in Prowl to it. He was coming to grasp that the rush of claiming power was nothing compared to having it willingly given to him by someone strong enough, or strong willed enough, to stop him.

Six treats in and he reluctantly admitted to himself that it was time to take Prowl back to his cell. If it was just himself, he'd have no qualms about hanging out until Megatron came back and had a proper fit. He didn't want Prowl to witness him being beaten though. He _did_ have his pride, after all, and it just wouldn't look good for him as sire material.

"Time to get back," he murmured as gently as he could, and helped the Praxian up to his pedes and out onto the grilled floor, standing there for a few kliks as the oil dripped from their frames. Once they were appropriately dry, they slipped back into the hallway and made their way uncontested back to the main prisoner compound and Prowl's cell. The entire walk Prowl leaned against him with warm, relaxed affection and it made Starscream mute a trill of pride, though his wings did lift to shield _his_ mech from any stray attention that might come.

"How is your research progressing?" Prowl asked seemingly randomly as they reached his cell.

Starscream rolled his optics. "Well, but you'd never know it. _Lord_ Megatron seems to expect us to fuel a planet with scrap by now."

"Of course, but can't you?" Prowl's words as they walked to the berth could have been biting, insulting, but this close Starscream knew he actually meant it. "Brilliant processor, creative processor, drive to be the best. If anyone can, you can."

Starscream gave him a sardonic smile as he laid his lover down on the berth. "Of course, but it takes _time_. Even _I_ can't make the impossible happen," he explained between kisses as he was drawn on top of Prowl.

"You've done rather well with me," Prowl purred at him, one white finger tracing down the centerline of Starscream's cockpit.

"You're easy to motivate," Starscream said with a smirk, but his optics brightened and glanced down. The finger went up and down again, unmistakably tracing the seam that would split his cockpit in half in the first stage of the sequence that would end with revealing his spark chamber. "You're, ah..."

"Suggesting we attempt to merge. Just for pleasure tonight," Prowl trilled seductively as he unlocked his chest armor, though it didn't move.

"Right, because of the ... thing," Starscream said, x-vented, and flopped to the berth next to Prowl. "I need to know that you'll want to create eventually."

"Yes," Prowl answered, simple and truthful. "Do you?"

"Of course I do," Starscream said. "But this is more serious than I get without knowing there's a reason for it." He rolled to his side, hooking a leg around Prowl's waist and moving back over him. "You go first," he said, touching the center seam.

The war-grade armor and systems objected to the movement, testament to the long disuse, but it didn't take long for the deep bumper to part and begin to fold to the side and away to expose Prowl's inner systems. They were even more reluctant to move, though it was open enough already for Starscream to see the nearly white spark pulsing brightly deep inside.

He shivered. It was eerie looking. 

His own frame wasn't much happier to part, but he commanded the sequence and managed to refrain from wincing as his internals were bared. He could die from this. Prowl could crush his chamber, and Starscream would never see it coming. 

It wasn't at all comfortable. 

He could see the reflection of his own sparklight on Prowl's armor, bright yellow, held back by a chamber of the same color.

The blue of Prowl's near-white spark barely changed the color of Starscream's yellow where the light mixed, and it was fascinating to the point that the seeker jerked sharply when he realized a hand was reaching slowly into his chest. It froze when he moved.

"Have you ever done spark play?" Prowl asked gently.

"Some," Starscream said, frowning at him. "Of course."

"Do you not enjoy it, or is it me?" Prowl asked, had still exactly where it had stopped.

Starscream narrowed his optics, focusing sharply on Prowl's face. He tried to remind himself that he liked this mech. At least far enough to trust him with a spark merge. "You can keep going," he said. "I was only expecting a merge."

"I will be more explicit in the future," Prowl promised. His fingers moved, once more slowly, until he gently brushed the tips of them along the glittering yellow casing that held Starscream's essence, the thing that separated him from a machine both legally and functionally.

It made the seeker shiver, and on a second caress, sigh, and then Starscream lifted a hand to mirror the touches. "You do this sort of thing often with your partners?" Starscream asked.

"Yes," Prowl moaned softly into the touches and carefully repaid them. Each touch sent a jolt of intense pleasure through the recipient. "I always thought of it as normal foreplay to a merge."

"Perhaps," Starscream said with a shrug. "It was always more of an afterthought for, _ah_ , me." 

"Mmmm, maybe I'll convince you it should be otherwise," Prowl moaned deeply at the touch to his chamber as it slowly spiraled open.

"Maybe so," Starscream said, fascinated by the strange light. He shifted back and dipped his head down, pressing his mouth to the crystal. Spark energy licked at his frame from leaders seeking out his spark, sending zaps of intense pleasure into him, along with a sense of _Prowl_ more intense than anything Starscream had felt before.

Starscream shivered and x-vented, playing back with the tendrils before lifting his head, looking up into Prowl's optics. The Praxian's were dark, aroused, his field was eager. 

He _wanted_ this, there was no question. 

Starscream let his chamber spiral open and moved up, letting their sparks meet and join together, wrapping around each other. They moaned in unison as energy hit their sparks directly along with a sense of what the other mecha was at their core. Prowl had more fire than Starscream expected, a fierce will he'd seen hints of but also a wild savagery suitable to any frontliner, or seeker, that he hadn't. That core was cold and calculating as well, even when it gave into the more impulsive aspects.

It was a sharp contrast to Starscream's spark, which on the whole was impulsive and unfocused, but passionate with a desire to _learn_ that motivated him almost as much as the desire to _command_. 

As the merge settled and the two sparks became accustomed to the other, they explored and tasted, equally curious but remaining near the surface as they had agreed. The mingling energy was pleasure in its most pure, raw form and soon distracted the curious sparks to focus on the exchange of energy that was building into a blazing inferno between them.

The exploring and knowing could wait, this was easier. Deeper merges would come later. 

Starscream was gasping and trembling, learning as much as enjoying, purposefully not pressing any deeper. One misstep could destroy everything. He _needed_ this to go well. 

And it felt amazing, there was no need to rush, even if their sparks seemed to have different ideas on that. As long as Starscream knew it had been for him, he now knew it hadn't been much more recently for Prowl, only Prowl's spark had a strong affinity for this pleasure and had missed it far more than Starscream had. He could see glimpses of others in Prowl's past, lovers, fellow Enforcers, mecha that the Praxian was making no attempt to hide. Neither did he hide that none still functioned.

Starscream kept his own memories of this tucked securely away, deep inside. They weren't for sharing. Prowl made no attempt to reach for them.

His spark arched, pressed, and shuddered. Heat and energy swirled together. Frames locked together, gripping and holding each other until it became too much to hold back as the swelling two-lobed orb that was their half-merged sparks pulsed their excess energy into their frames. Prowl screamed, a sound that might have been of pain but for the situation and feedback Starscream was deeply immersed in.

Starscream's scream echoed after, the tension in their frames tight enough to make them tremble as safety protocols kept them from moving, lest they rip their sparks apart at their most vulnerable. 

Starscream groaned as the overload faded from their frames, and as the lights pulled away from each other, he relaxed down, open chests pressed together and crystals still brushing. Their frames panted, armor fluffing and contracting to force air through their internal structures as quickly as possible but those internals were lax, as were their field.

"Felt good," Prowl murmured, only half coherent from the overload.

Starscream hummed in agreement. As merges went, it had been light, easy, pleasurable. No deep secrets, very little risked, but it had gone well.

It was a good start.

* * *

Starscream was lounging on Prowl's berth, one he spent far more time in than his own, chatting with the Praxian about anything and nothing when Sirocco pinged for admittance.

"You have company," the seeker said as he pinged the doors to open for the other seeker.

"Company?" Prowl looked towards the door, his doorwings lifted in curiosity but frame still largely lax.

They lifted a bit more when Bluestreak entered, followed by Sirocco, and then lowered again when he saw the nervous shivering in the younger Praxian. "Bluestreak?" 

Bluestreak gave Prowl the bravest smile he could manage as the door latched behind him. "Hi Prowl sorry I really hope this isn't much of a bother, I don't know if they told you I was coming or not but I hope it's okay."

"I was not told but it is fine," he said as he stood to walk up to the youngest survivor of his city. "I'm pleased to see you," he added as he came close enough to touch, and therefore teek in detail. "What is bothering you?"

"Oh nothing's bothering me," Bluestreak assured him quickly. "I had a favor to ask but it's really kind of a big favor and it's okay if you don't want to I really really wouldn't want you to feel like you had to or anything but see the thing is I decided to create with Sirocco but I--um--" He fumbled a little bit, shifting back and forth on his pedes while Prowl waited patiently for him to reach the point he needed to. "I-I have my seals still and I just wondered if it was okay with you if you wouldn't mind being the one to break them?" His field blushed brightly, voice rising in embarrassment.

"I would be honored," Prowl answered smoothly, his tone, doorwings and teek all genuine. Bluestreak sagged with relief. "Why not choose Bumblebee? I know you were working towards a relationship before."

"I..." Bluestreak shuffled a little bit, looking down. "I don't want to ask him to, knowing what it's for, you know? Maybe we can work on us, sometime, again, but right now it would just make everything hurt worse."

"I understand," Prowl soothed him. "Do you wish to do it now?"

Blue optics brightened with shock. "Now like right this klik now?" Bluestreak squeaked.

"Begin now, yes," Prowl twitched his doorwings at Bluestreak's surprise. "The process will take several joors, if not orns to do well."

Bluestreak glanced over his shoulder near the door where Sirocco and Starscream were standing. Sirocco canted his wings and lifted a hand in farewell. 

"I'll come by when you're ready to go, stay as long as you'd like," Sirocco said. 

Bluestreak gave him a bright smile. "Thanks!"

The slate gray seeker canted his wings in acceptance of the thanks and left with Starscream. "How much experience does he have with seals?" he asked after the doors closed and they began walking to the nearest door so they could fly while watching the pair via the cameras.

"He's helped others through their first experiences before," Starscream said with a shrug, watching Bluestreak babble on about he hadn't thought Prowl would be so quick to agree or he would have brought a gift. "Ugh, how do you _stand_ that?" 

"I'm not as high strung and self-centered as you. It's easy enough for anyone who doesn't demand to be the only voice in a room," Sirocco shrugged, a small smile on his face and a bit of a rev of his engines as he watched Prowl kiss Bluestreak into silence. "Bluestreak is very easy to handle once you grasp his basics. He only talks so it isn't quiet."

"Ah," Starscream said. "Well, better you than me." He scowled as they reached the deck, not really liking the incredibly passionate kisses that Bluestreak was receiving. "He specifically asked for Prowl?"

"Yes. He wanted his mentor." Sirocco glanced at Starscream as they took off and began a lazy, circling path around the revitalizing Kaon. "As cold as Prowl was said to be, he seemed to have gained loyalty from some."

"Prowl took him in, after Praxus," Starscream said, and the uncomfortable tension between them after the mention of their carriers' lost city prompted the next question, "Have you ever talked to Bluestreak about it?" 

"Not really. I told him I was sorry about it, that I wasn't there, that it shouldn't have happened," Sirocco said uneasily. "It's the only time he's gone quiet when I wasn't talking. It's _creepy_ when he's quiet. I just know that the only time in his life he's gone quiet like that was when he's been aiming at somebody's spark."

Starscream shuddered. "Glad it wasn't me there. I ... lied to Prowl, about exactly how involved I was with Praxus. He knows I was there. He doesn't know how much of it was my plan." He watched the carriers for a few moments, was envious of the way Prowl's hands splayed out over Bluestreak's doorwings. "He doesn't know I lead the whole thing."

Sirocco was silent for a long moment. "Then I hope he never finds out. I would have expected he knew though, given how common the knowledge is among Decepticons old enough to have been there. That's the kind of intel I'd expect he'd have seen."

"I fragging hope not," Starscream muttered, banking into a long, slow turn. "Congratulations, on Bluestreak," he added.

"Thank you," Sirocco replied as he smoothly followed his leader. "I hope that some vorn he'll be able to be a free citizen." Implicit in that was that he didn't believe it was likely. "He's sweet when he doesn't feel threatened."

"Mm, does he stop being annoying, too?" Starscream asked. The Praxians were positively delightful to watch, if he didn't want to growl about it. Prowl was covering Bluestreak with his frame, doorwings held out protectively as they kissed and touched.

"I think so," Sirocco chuckled. "But I like him. I think Mocca will want to have a few chats with him when he's settled into the compound. For as young as he is, he knows a _lot_ of trivia from mecha that didn't make it."

Starscream hummed. "Mocca's a good choice for that," he said as they fell into silence for the better part of a joor as Prowl drew two tactile overloads out of Bluestreak and the half joor it took Prowl to teach Bluestreak the right way to touch him to draw the trembling cries and eventual roar of an overload from another frame.

"Your apartment?" Sirocco's voice quivered. "Or should I hunt down my wingmates?"

"No way are you ditching me like that," Starscream all but growled. "My place," They turned together, falling into a race without even needing to confirm that it was what they were doing. Starscream got there first and had the roof entry unlocked by the time Sirocco landed, and they quickly made their way inside. 

Sirocco followed Starscream through to the living room, which had a single large sofa designed for flight frames and a table in front of it, every surface of both covered with datapads and notes. "Just--push it all on the floor, whatever," Starscream said, waving a hand as he disappeared. "You want a drink or something?" he called back.

"Yes. High grade if you have it," Sirocco called as he took a bit of care restacking the datapads on the couch to clear it for them. They both knew Starscream would finish today riding Sirocco's spike and there was no promise they'd make it to a berth first. "Primus those two," he nearly choked on his arousal, his wings shivering, as he watched the feed of Bluestreak gripping the berth while Prowl laid between his legs and focused his mouth on the younger mech's spike seal.

Starscream bit back a groan. "They look good together," he said, pushing the cube into Sirocco's hands and sitting down next to him. Bluestreak's hips were pulsing in a slow, steady rhythm, the blue optics barely lit and not even focused. He was moaning Prowl's designation, over and over.

"My pretty Blue looks so good in pleasure," Sirocco moaned softly before sipping his drink and relaxing next to a similarly aroused Starscream. "I bet yours does too. I know he let you start 'facing him a while ago."

"Yes," Starscream said, with a sigh and wing shiver for the memories. "He made the first moves. Have you merged with Bluestreak?" he asked, remembering the latest step that he and Prowl had taken with another tremble through his wings.

"No," Sirocco sighed and fiddled with his cube before taking a deep drink. "He finally allowed me to kiss him a few orns ago. Then yesterday he said he'd do it all, even kindling, if I arranged for Prowl to break his seals first. He teeked honest about it too."

"Lucky glitch," Starscream said, helm back against the lounge as he watched the internal feed of the Praxians. "Primus I can't believe he's still holding out," he said. "I'd have lost it by now, mouth that Prowl's got."

"He's good then?" Sirocco grinned over at the larger seeker, then shuddered with a deep groan as Bluestreak keened as his spike finally freed itself, only to be immediately swallowed by his lover. "Anything you haven't tried with him yet?"

Starscream rolled his optics. "I'm not _that_ kinky," he said, and tried not to choke as the temperature behind his panels shot up. " _Frag._ But--really, there isn't much he says no to. Haven't hardlined. That's it."

"Really?" Sirocco looked over in surprise, momentarily distracted from his arousal. "I would have thought you'd really go for having that processor blow yours."

"Ah, well when you put it that way," Starscream said with a lazy smirk, one finger trailing up and down Sirocco's wing. "No, we just ... get distracted."

The smaller seeker laughed into a moan as Bluestreak screamed Prowl's designation and overloaded into the older mech's intake. "I can believe that, with the way Prowl's doing him." His wing pressed into the touch and he turned to kiss Starscream, hungry and with enough of a charge that his panels slid open on their own as he climbed into Starscream's lap.

Starscream x-vented heavily. "You have _no_ idea," he said, arms going around a waist that was smaller than his, easy to hold and pull snug. He moaned again as Prowl moved up to kiss Bluestreak tenderly, giving the younger Bot a few kliks to recover his senses. "What was your first time like?"

"Forgettable, really," Sirocco answered with a bit of regret. "I wish I'd had the sense to go after an older seeker. The first time with my eventual wingmates, that showed me what it was all about."

Starscream snickered. "I think that's more common than not," he said. "Bluestreak's a lucky glitch." Bluestreak was holding Prowl tightly as they kissed, legs wrapped around Prowl's waist.

"Very lucky," Sirocco moaned, rubbing his frame shamelessly against Starscream's. "What was yours like?"

Starscream nipped for Sirocco's lip, hand going down between the other seeker's legs to rub. "Nice, and over too fast," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "We had no idea what we were doing."

Sirocco could only moan as Starscream's hand rubbed against his half-pressurized spike and blue fingers teased at slick platelets.

Starscream wrapped a hand around the back of his helm, pulling him in for a kiss as he palmed the spike, the piece that _really_ interested him, rubbing up and down as he coaxed it to full hardness. He wanted Sirocco aching by the time he took him in. 

Over the feed, Bluestreak's half-frenzied gasps carried across as Prowl sank down onto his spike, taking the other carrier for a ride that Starscream was plenty familiar with. Starscream's spike panel slid back, the housing spiraled open and his own spike extended, pushing up against Sirocco's.

"Ahhh, tease!" Sirocco keened and writhed and he tried to move, to gain more friction against the spike and palm rubbing against his. The feed in his processor of Starscream's Praxian riding his made his valve so slick he was dripping lubricant on Starscream's legs and couch.

"A _tease_ , am I?" Starscream drawled, but he could do nothing to hide the heat radiating off his equipment or the way his wings pulsed with deep arousal. He shifted Sirocco's weight up in his arms and then brought him down onto his spike, making them groan in unison as the valve clenched down.

"Yes!" Sirocco keened, his valve lining spasming around the desired invasion and calipers closing tightly around Starscream's spike. He grabbed Starscream's shoulder vents and held on, burying his face against his leader's neck and shaking.

Their thrusts moved in time with the Praxians', though they lasted long past Bluestreak's overload and well into his recovery before Prowl rolled onto his back, pulling his new lover on top of him and bringing him into a kiss. 

"Frag does he want to have anything left to work with?" Starscream asked with a gasping laugh, fingers clenching down on Sirocco's wings.

"Maybe they'll take more than one orn," Sirocco cried out when his entire frame tried to contract with an intense surge of charge. "So hot."

" _Very,_ " Starscream agreed with a deep, resonating moan as they watched Bluestreak's first real thrusts, the way he rolled his hips against Prowl's. Prowl was purring and coaching, completely unbothered by how quickly Bluestreak was losing control. 

The seekers overloaded just before Bluestreak, crying out as the Praxian spilled inside his mentor, and as they were recovering themselves, saw Prowl coax the younger mech up. 

"What's he..." Starscream said, and then Prowl slipped down so his head was between Bluestreak's thighs. Even though the camera angle couldn't show it, it was apparent what he'd started doing. "Primus's spark."

"You are _so_ lucky," Sirocco laughed as he recovered against Starscream's chest and watched in wonder as Bluestreak began to moan. "The endurance of that mech. Both of them."

"Mm, I _am_ , aren't I," Starscream said smugly. Bluestreak was just starting to rock, grinding against Prowl's face when he stopped and pulled away, getting a whine of disappointment that he quickly shushed with a kiss before laying Bluestreak gently on his back and purring for him to relax before slipping back down between his legs. As they watched Bluestreak slowly began to gasp and tremble. As warm blue optics bleached to a near white and electricity crackled across his gray plating, Prowl suddenly moved. With a surge forward he sank into Bluestreak's valve until their arrays were flush. The seal gone before either could register the resistance or pain of it tearing.

Starscream gripped Sirocco tightly and moaned as his valve clenched around thin air in sympathy spasms. "Oh, my first did not go nearly that well," he said with a laugh.

"Neither did mine." Sirocco agreed, shivering with arousal as Prowl began to thrust, building Bluestreak's charge up as he-- _somehow_ \--held back his own.

The younger Praxian's legs moved up, holding Prowl's waist. Starscream's hand moved between their frames, fingers slipping around Sirocco's spike and teasing it up and down in the rhythm the Praxians were moving to. Bluestreak was moaning deliciously, though all they could see of him were his legs, his splayed doorwings, the hands gripping Prowl's shoulders and the top of his helm. Just the sight made Starscream almost consider laying on his back for him.

"How do you want me?" Sirocco shivered and moaned.

"Just like this for now," Starscream purred. "I want to see what he does next."

"Besides overload," Sirocco moaned and squeezed, rippled around Starscream's spike that was still seated deep inside him.

"Besides that," Starscream chuckled and settled into the light pleasure, giving and taking, while they watched the pair. Prowl moaned and shuddered, his doorwings fluttering as Bluestreak keened his bliss, but continued to thrust, slowing as Bluestreak came back to reality, then speeding up again when he had the younger mech's attention.

It lasted longer than it had any right to, with as new as Bluestreak was to interfacing. Prowl had once mentioned enjoying overload denial, Starscream remembered, and while this wasn't quite that, he could see where his lover would be very good at it. Sirocco was lifting up and down on his spike by the time the Praxians were anywhere close to finishing, and Starscream overloaded again with a shout, making sure to pull his hand away from the spike he was priming before he did.

Sirocco cried out and shuddered in the grip of his own overload the moment transfluid flooded his valve. His helm thrown back, wings tense and dancing with charge and red optics bleached white with the bliss as he hung there, grinding against Starscream's lap and working the pleasurable spike inside him until he sank forward, panting and gasping.

It was just in time to watch Bluestreak shudder and cry out Prowl's designation in overload, and the roar Prowl let go of as he fell after his lover. After that, the Praxians curled up together, Prowl draped protectively over Bluestreak, talking quietly and drifting into light recharge. 

"Not surprised," Starscream snorted, trailing a single finger up and down Sirocco's spike as his own retracted. "Hmm, leave you like this, or..." He purred, the relaxed sound completely belying how slick and wanting his valve was.

"I'll fill your valve, or a trinemate's," Sirocco trilled back even as he shivered at the touch. "I think I know which you really want. I know you aren't going to get Praxian spike this orn."

"What makes you think I'd even let you get out of here to find a trinemate?" Starscream asked with a smirk, but he wrapped his arms around the smaller seeker's waist and stood, pulling him in for a deep kiss as he walked into the berthroom and threw him down on the padding before pouncing on top of him. The Praxians seemed to be taking a long break, which was a shame, but they still had their memories to work with.

So many hot memories. Starscream zeroed in on the one of Prowl riding Bluestreak and moaned as he sank down around the spike that felt so good inside him.

"Yesss," Sirocco moaned and thrust upwards, eager for movement and friction.

" _\--Hah._ " Starscream threw his helm back and rocked his hips, gasping sharply as the ache was replaced with _streching_. Wings flared wide, trembling with tension and thrill and the exhilaration of feeling another frame desperately pushing into his own. "Gonna kindle right away or spend some time playing with him first?"

"Ohhh, play first, at least for a decaorn or so," Sirocco moaned and thrust, eager to pleasure his leader as well as himself. "Get him used to me and the pleasure. Make sure he trusts me in this too."

"Good," Starscream panted. "Shame to waste that spike on a carrier so soon. _Nnh._ " Their frames moved together, thrusting and rocking as they each indulged in their favorite memories of the Praxians' interfacing.

* * *

Starscream reluctantly roused to an internal ping. He didn't want to boot up, not with how warm and surrounded with frames he felt, but he did enough to check the reason for the alarm and started to view the feed from Prowl's cell starting a few kliks earlier. The pair was moving, Prowl first, and back to kissing and touching.

"Mm. 'Rocco," he mumbled, and reached out, and felt his hand land on someone, but he could still feel a different field above it. He forced reluctant optics online and realized that they'd been joined by Skywarp and Thundercracker, and his hand was currently on Skywarp's shoulder vent. 

" _Screamer,_ " Skywarp whined, batting at him. "Go back'a 'charge." 

Starscream rolled his optics and turned his head the other way, finding Sirocco booting up. The sniper pressed against his back, turbines humming. "They're up," Starscream purred.

"I know," Sirocco rumbled, rubbing against Starscream eagerly. "They're going for more."

"Who's what now?" Skywarp asked, lifting his helm. 

"Our Praxians," Starscream said, his field flushing with heat at the way Prowl kissed his lover. "Prowl agreed to help Bluestreak break his seals. We've been watching." 

"So that's why Sirocco is here," Thundercracker hummed drowsily. 

"Lemme see!" Skywarp demanded, pushing at Starscream. 

"Not a chance!" Starscream said, sticking his glossa out at his wingmate before Sirocco pulled him into a strut-melting kiss. 

Thundercracker thankfully drew Skywarp away to distract him as Starscream and Sirocco started roaming their hands over each other's frames in much the same way as Prowl and Bluestreak were.

Suddenly the Praxians stilled, and Prowl drew himself up to straddle Bluestreak's hips and stroked down the center of Bluestreak's chest. "Ready?" he asked. 

"I'm ready," Bluestreak shivered nervously, only to still as Prowl's armor split first.

The color of Prowl's spark immediately flooded Starscream with intense desire and he stilled, staring at it, equally transfixed as Bluestreak. 

::You don't think they'll kindle?:: Sirocco asked nervously. 

::Prowl wouldn't do that,:: Starscream said with certainty.

::Why not?:: Sirocco was suddenly curious as to why Starscream was so certain. Despite that, most of his attention was transfixed watching and listening to Prowl guide Bluestreak in touching his exposed chamber.

::He knows Bluestreak would end up punished for it,:: Starscream said. He shivered in remembrance of white fingers on his crystal. ::You would stop courting him. He'd be less valuable. He knows that the only thing they have going for them is the fact that they're carriers. Bluestreak's chances at useful civilian life are slim.::

::True. He was raised in a warzone and it shows. He has no idea how to act and I don't think he's learning,:: Sirocco murmured, sad for the young mech. ::Has Prowl created before?::

::No,:: Starscream murmured. Prowl drew a keen from his lover that made Starscream shake.

::It was intense, wasn't it, when he agreed to merge?:: Sirocco watched, fascinated, as their spark chambers opened and the leaders, one nearly white, the other a warm, deep gray-blue, found and connected. 

::It--:: Starscream began, not even sure what his answer would be, when he was shoved from behind. 

"What's goin' on?" Skywarp asked, draping himself over the white and red frame, peering at the pair. 

"Skywarp," Starscream growled. 

"Your field feels all funny," Skywarp said. Thundercracker joined him, looking amused at the expression on Starscream's face. 

"He's right," the blue seeker added. "You feel unusual, Screamer. What're they doing?" 

"Spark merging," Sirocco hummed with enjoyment. 

Starscream's wingmates stared at him. "But you _hate_ spark stuff!" Skywarp said. 

"I do not, now get off!" Starscream snapped, shoving his elbow right into Skywarp's cockpit, getting a squawk of protest. 

"That's what you always tell us when we want to play!" Skywarp was right back in the debate.

"And jealous of a grounder?" Thundercracker hummed thoughtfully. "That's very unlike you."

"I will shoot you both," Starscream said flatly. 

"Not legal anymore," Thundercracker rumbled with amusement at the reaction and the truth it proved.

"Yeah, you can't anymore," Skywarp giggled. "What's so hot about watching a couple grounders merge anyway?"

Sirocco moaned, ignoring the chatting trinemates and focusing completely on his feed.

Starscream x-vented and tried very hard to keep from losing his temper at the pair as he twisted around to face them more fully, fixing Skywarp with a glare. "You know what else is illegal? Entering private property by force and without permission."

"But--" Skywarp said. 

"I _swear_ to _Primus,_ " Starscream hissed. "If you can't shut up for the next twenty kliks, I _will_ figure out a way to keep you from warping in here." 

Thundercracker's wings flared with surprise at the intensity of the field behind the statement and quickly pushed Skywarp to his back, covered him and claimed his mouth, thoroughly distracting the black seeker. Starscream huffed his satisfaction and rolled back over to press against Sirocco as they both enjoyed the visual of the carriers they'd spent so much time and energy on lost in bliss with each other.

"Ride me or fill me?" Sirocco gasped with the intensity of what he was watching and what it implied for his future, his efforts made worthwhile.

Skywarp snickered and started to say something but Thundercracker quickly silenced him before their wingmate could turn his temper back around. 

"Ride you," Starscream said, voice low and wanting as he swung up and over into a straddle. "Definitely ride you." Their helms rested together, moaning at Bluestreak's open-mouthed pleasure.

Sirocco's spike sprang out between them, eager and quick to pressurize as its owner shivered in anticipation. "Looks good on you."

Starscream gave a harsh x-vent and sank down, taking a moment to adjust the angle of his hips before rocking. " _Everything_ looks good on me."

A snicker came from the other side of the berth, but that was all as Starscream lost himself in the pleasure of his frame and the eroticism of watching two mecha spark merge.

Prowl and Bluestreak continued interfacing for the rest of the orn, long after Starscream and Sirocco had worn themselves out and were collapsed in a pile on the berth. Skywarp and Thundercracker had left at some point, leaving the two to their enjoyment of the vid feed. 

But now it looked as though they had finished, and Prowl was slipping treats into Bluestreak's mouth as they talked quietly. 

"Gonna go get 'im?" Starscream muttered, barely online.

"Said he could stay as long as he liked," Sirocco murmured. "'Sides, we need to take them _both_ to the washrack after that."

Starscream groaned. Sirocco was right, and they were going to need a good wash as well. And he didn't feel like moving for the next decaorn. So he tucked his helm against Sirocco's neck and purred into recharge.


	6. Visiting the Compound

A metacycle after Prowl had educated Bluestreak in interfacing, Starscream had arranged for him to visit the compound where the carriers lived. Prowl was both excited and dreading it, but fixated on the fact that information was paramount. There were mecha he hoped he would not encounter, Ratchet chief among them. He also was saddened that Red Alert was in stasis as he was halfway through his carry, and the twins were not in the compound as Sideswipe had refused all interest and Sunstreaker had only agreed to Megatron on condition that his brother was always with him. It meant they were in a cell together, rather than the compound.

What Prowl wanted to know the most, however, was what he would be facing after he kindled. He needed to know what his next home would be and the dangers it represented.

As they moved through the city in a transport former, he saw many of his fellow former Autobots working in construction crews. They were all wearing inactive stasis cuffs and being watched by armed guards as they worked, building towers and reconstructing damaged roads. 

These were the non-carriers, or those who had refused and agreed to a different path towards civilian life.

He wasn't surprised by who he saw, and didn't see. The only one that caught his optic was his primary rival and he didn't quite stop that growl of his engine from being heard.

Starscream glanced at him, then followed the focused gaze to see Ultra Magnus talking to a crew. Then traffic moved forward again and the growl quieted as the mech disappeared from view. "He's one of the fastest progressing," he commented. "Perfect behavior, hard work."

"Yes, he would be," Prowl huffed and forced himself to settle. "Military mech, sparked and coded. Tactical processor nearly a match for mine and he can't figure out how to use it."

Starscream raised an optic ridge at him. "He got pretty far for not being able to use it," he said.

"He's like Jazz," Prowl growled, frustration at Jazz showing in his tone and field. "Only without the useful traits of being socially competent and information obsessed."

Starscream hummed, optics moving forward again as their destination came into view. The compound was just outside the city, built from scratch for its purpose. Starscream had described it as massive and Prowl was inclined to agree. It was impossibly large to house a scant fifty mecha and their creations. "Bad history with him?" he asked. "Or do you just not like him?"

Prowl paused, reviewing his history and reactions to Ultra Magnus. "A bad history caused primarily by incompatible tactical styles ... and the rank and file. I can't stand being called just like him," Prowl's hands actually curled into fists before he caught hold of his emotions and shoved them down _hard_.

Prowl might not have recognized the emotional content, but Starscream knew it well.

Threatened.

The seeker glanced over again, bemused and concerned, and moved to be sitting next to Prowl. "You know, you were _the_ top priority for our assassins. Higher than the Prime. Ultra Magnus wasn't even a blip."

Prowl glanced at him, genuinely surprised and warmed in the weird way that only war-perspective brought. "Higher than Jazz?"

"Just barely, but yes," Starscream said with a bit of a smug smile at being able to offer such a gift to his carrier and that it had been received as it was meant. "Higher than Jazz."

Prowl hummed and his doorwings gave a bit of a flutter. Pride flared up, bright and hot, and Starscream recognized once more that Prowl was not as cold and controlled as he displayed.

The transport set down and Prowl smoothly followed Starscream as they exited into the tightly secured entry space. It was much like the cells, only on a grander scale. The transport lifted off and left before the gate behind them closed and locked. Then the one in front that led inside unlocked.

They stepped through together and Prowl found himself in a large, open courtyard. It opened up to the sky, but he could see the markers of an energy field above. There was a small crystal garden with a water fountain, benches, sculptures. On either side were arches that Prowl couldn't quite see through, but seemed to lead to other gardens, or rec areas. 

"So, who would you like to see?" Starscream asked. "Or do you just want to take a tour?"

"Bluestreak," Prowl said smoothly, his optics sharp and frame just a bit tense for not knowing what kind of reception the general population held for him. He knew some hated him, and several didn't find any fault with him, but the majority he wasn't sure of.

Starscream nodded and commed the security director to get a location, then gestured with his helm. "Follow," he said, and they headed through one of the arches to find a small transport station. "Lines run vertical and horizontal through the compound," Starscream said. "For carriers close to separation. But anyone can use them." They sat down in one of the cars and Starscream entered a number and it moved up three levels, and then started going forward. "It's a luxurious place to live, even by pre-war standards," the seeker added.

"Agreed," Prowl murmured as he took it in. "Private or public washracks?"

"There's a central public one, pretty big," Starscream said. "And ten private ones. Residents earn virtual credits they can use for them. Credits are easy to earn, and the private washracks are cheap," he added.

"Good to know. How does one earn credits here?" Prowl asked, now very curious.

"They're automatically given out ornly, and only taken away for disruptive behavior," Starscream said. "You can volunteer to care for others to earn more, but honestly, everyone already does that. The credits are really just a way to have a form of discipline with low physical and emotional impact."

"An allowance then," Prowl relaxed a bit. "Has anyone taken up their old crafts?"

"Possibly," Starscream said with a shrug that indicated he wasn't entirely sure of the answer. "Someone who lives here would have a better idea. Or a sire. Sires don't _have_ to continue the liaison but most at least visit regularly."

"I'm not surprised, given the effort most would have put in to sire, and it is their creation," Prowl's doorwings flicked as he took in everything. "Does the general population live this well yet?"

"Hm, not nearly," Starscream said dryly. "I don't have a personal masseuse and on-call medic, for one." 

Prowl's optics cycled in surprise at the masseuse. "A lavishly gilded cage then."

"Lord Megatron keeps his word," Starscream said with a sarcastic tint to his wings as the small transport slowed and stopped.

Prowl flicked his doorwings in understanding, acceptance and acknowledgement of the sarcastic hint before following Starscream to where Bluestreak was.

The door opened to Starscream's palm and code and Prowl stepped in to see a lavish suite, complete with a window, plush lounges, art, and a decorative golden waterfall that radiated heat set into the wall. There was an energon dispenser that looked like it included flavoring and temperature options, as well as a table for entertaining. There were two closed doors--berthrooms, he assumed. 

"Prowl hi I really hoped I'd get to see you while you were here!" Bluestreak greeted before Prowl was even two steps in, slamming into the other Praxian with a hug. "Sirocco told me you were coming!"

Prowl returned the embraced, more startled by the contact than anything. "I came to see you as much as the facility I will soon be in. How do you like it here?"

"It isn't bad, really, even though we can't leave but at least it's nice," Bluestreak said. "Better than I thought we'd get and at least--" He broke off, saw Starscream step into the apartment behind Prowl, and his doorwings immediate raised in a threat display and he growled, field turning cold.

"Bluestreak?" Prowl prompted, confused by the reaction even as he had a niggling thought he shouldn't be.

Starscream froze immediately, peering at the carrier, but when he didn't back down from the threat, Bluestreak's growl turned into a full-fledged snarl and he rushed the Seeker, wings held wide open in an attempt to intimidate. "Out, get out get out get out!" 

Starscream squawked in surprise but did quickly backstep until he was back out in the hall. Bluestreak stopped at the doorway, snarling in warning that if he came any closer, he wouldn't stop from attacking.

"Bluestreak!" Prowl grabbed him and pulled him away, his field flooded by the terror in the younger mech's field as he put himself between the two. "It's okay. You're safe," he tried to soothe him.

"He doesn't come in here, not in here!" Blustreak shouted, and now that they were touching, Prowl could feel the younger mech's frame shaking, but he wasn't resisting.

"He won't," Prowl promised with a pulse through his field that he would protect the carrier if Starscream did come inside. "He won't come any closer."

He looked over his shoulder at the seeker, who frowned but waved a careless hand and turned away to go wait back at the transport. The door closed, blocking him from view and creating a safe barrier between seeker and Praxian. 

Bluestreak relaxed, x-vented, and huffed his satisfaction.

"See, he's gone," Prowl said soothingly and guided Bluestreak to a lounge. "Now, tell me about living here, how others are handling it, what it is like to be a carrier."

Bluestreak gave a lingering glare at the door before he looked at his once mentor and completely brightened. "It's great! If this was before the war it would be like some kind of really nice vacation or something well except for the part where you can't leave and you're always being watched but you know that's expected. I was expecting to just die after the war or rust in a cell but you know."

"I know. I anticipated a very messy public execution given my rank," Prowl hummed. "Even when I believed they would take good care of carriers I never anticipated this. Have they given your t-cog back?"

Bluestreak shook his head. "Not yet. Not like you can really use it around here anyway. Don't get those unless you're gonna be a full citizen..." He trailed off, both of them knowing how likely that was for him.

"At least the cage is finely gilded," Prowl murmured. "Has anyone begun to _live?_ Taken up former crafts or hobbies."

Bluestreak nodded. "Some have. What's possible at least. I don't really know everyone all that well 'cause I was usually sorta off on my own, y'know? Everyone I trained with died. I know one of the others started research back up--he gets escorted to somewhere--and another one talks about some writing he might get published when it's possible again."

"That's good. Perhaps there is something you would enjoy doing, or learning to do?" Prowl suggested gently.

"Me?" Bluestreak asked. "I'm..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "I'm fine. I'm not talented like others anyway. I just read a lot."

"What do you read about?" Prowl asked rather than directly objecting to the statement.

Bluestreak shrugged and blushed out to the edges of his field, ducking his helm to hide the smile. "Fantasy and love stories. Nice way to escape from everything."

"It is," Prowl agreed with a soft smile, only to have his field hint at nervousness a moment later. "What's it like, being a carrier?"

Bluestreak gave him a confused look when he teeked the nervousness. "Are you worried?" he asked, and took Prowl's hands.

"Yes," Prowl admitted, shocking Bluestreak for a brief moment before he realized just how much the elder and officer must trust him to even ask, much less admit to why.

He squeezed Prowl's fingers in his own and gave him the most reassuring smile he could manage. "There's nothing to worry about, I promise," he said, and his field teeked soft and calm as he thought about it. "I guess I'm probably not the best to ask 'cause I always thought I'd want to carry anyway. If Red were online I'd say you should ask him, but, it isn't bad at all, not one bit. It's sort of, comforting, I guess, knowing that I'm helping Cybertron somehow. Yeah, sometimes I'm really sore or hot or grouchy, but there's always someone to help."

Prowl nodded with a nervous twitch of his doorwings, though his field was settling somewhat. "Thank you. Have you socialized here much?"

"A little bit," Bluestreak said, doorwings lifting eagerly. "Lotsa different mecha here. You'll like it, I promise. You're really thinking about doing it?"

"I've already agreed to," Prowl said with the steady calm strength that had led the Autobots through so many battles, only now Bluestreak knew it didn't go spark-deep. "As a sparked mech, I do not have a reference point to go from as kindled mecha do. I did not have creators, nor any memories not in my adult frame ready to perform my function."

"Oh," Bluestreak said, cocking his head. "Yeah I guess that would be kinda strange, wouldn't it. You know I never really thought about it and why you're a carrier, they _built_ you to be a carrier?"

"Yes. As was Red Alert," Prowl sighed. "Yes, I have thought about it. It is most likely that my fate was to be a breeder once Vector Sigma was lost. I am certain some predicted the loss in time. I was from one of the last batches of sparked mecha. It was strange to realize that after all I've done and been through, my original purpose has found me, even when I did not know what it was. I have no doubt that even the cell I am in now is an improvement over an Enforcer breeding center. Have you had any contact with the newspark yet?" He forced himself to pull away from the darker thoughts that were so easy to sink into.

Bluestreak brightened, shook his head, and pulled Prowl's hand up to his chest to rest over his spark. "Not really _contact_ but I can definitely feel it," he said. "There's a really tiny field, you probably can't feel it from there." When Prowl canted his doorwings in a negative, Bluestreak just nodded. "Want to see?" he asked.

Ice blue optics brightened in shock, but Prowl rather eagerly nodded and his doorwings fluttered in anticipation. "Yes, I would, if you are okay with showing me."

"It's _you_ ," Bluestreak said with another blush and a shy smile. "You saw my spark before anyone else did. Well I guess except Ratchet but he doesn't count, you know?" His chest split and parted beneath Prowl's palm, the armor retracting and revealing the blue crystal. It lifted up and spiraled open. "Go ahead," Bluestreak said with an encouraging smile. "Don't touch, but you can look."

"I am honored," Prowl whispered as he focused on that bright spark that he'd pleasured not that long before. His optics cycled through their settings, seeking the best one to watch the tiny mote of energy circling Bluestreak's bright spark. "So much to come from something so small," he murmured with a bit of wonder.

Bluestreak gave a happy hum as he nodded. "I can't wait to start constructing," he said with an eager shiver out to the tips of his doorwings. "Sirocco's already gotten really eager."

Prowl's field flickered in confusion before it cleared and he chuckled. "It's not as if you need to wait to enjoy yourselves that way."

"No," Bluestreak said with a pleased flutter. "But I think it'll probably feel really special when I know it's _for_ something. That we're creating something." 

"Quite possibly," Prowl smiled softly. "I've read that extra protocols activate then too. Increased stamina, easier overload, more transfluid production and storage in the sire. Just don't forget to have plenty of fuel by the berth."

"Oh yeah," Bluestreak said, grinning, one hand moving absently over his abdomen. "We're preparing. And practicing." He watched Prowl's optics for a few moments as they followed the newspark around before closing his chest plates. "I was kinda scared too, but it isn't bad here. And it isn't bad to carry. At least not yet, I can't speak for later."

"I'm sure when it becomes difficult to move about it will be more irritating," Prowl said. "Though I am glad that it has been easy for you so far."

Bluestreak nodded and pulled Prowl into a hug. "Thanks for all your help," he said. "You wanna see around the place? It probably isn't what you're used to but at least there's a small library. All Decepticon material, of course."

"Of course," Prowl flicked his doorwings in dark humor. "I would like to have a tour."

"Great!" Bluestreak said and bounded to his pedes and over to the door. It opened and his doorwings flattened. "Oh. _You._ " 

Starscream narrowed his optics. "Well I can't just _leave_ ," he said. 

"I am in his charge," Prowl pointed out. "He's responsible for me. But perhaps he can trail back a ways?" he glanced towards Starscream. "You have ranged weapons and no one here does."

"Fine, whatever," Starscream shrugged. He mock-bowed to Bluestreak, holding an arm out. "As you please." 

Bluestreak glared at him and as they passed, kicked him hard in the shin. Starscream stifled his undignified yelp and limped with great exaggeration as he followed after them. 

Bluestreak happily chattered on about the compound, pointing out doors and telling Prowl who was in each one, who their sire was, how far along they were. Prowl listened, adding it all to his personal database. There were no real surprises. Starscream had kept him reasonably up to date on who was courting who and who'd been moved here. It was still very strange to Prowl to think that he might be here soon, among these mecha he'd betrayed by surrendering.

Of the few he saw as they walked, the looks were mostly neutral, and a few looked mistrustful but no one looked outright hostile. A glance over his shoulder told him that Starscream seemed to be watching the others just as closely, and likely for the same reasons. It was no secret to Starscream that Prowl expected hostility, and the seeker understood why very well. Failed leaders were rarely accepted back with open arms.

The tour lead through the entire complex: residential, rec rooms, library, washracks, gardens, supply rooms and the goods that residents could use at will, the on site medbay with carrier and sparkling care as its top priority. There was also a physical therapy center for mecha still dealing with lingering protoform injuries, or carriers with sore frames, and an on-site full time processor specialist to help with counseling and processor welfare. 

"Well, that's about it," Bluestreak said as they came back around to the residential center. "Lots to do, I'm never bored, and they care a lot about making sure we're happy." His smile suddenly looked far older and more worn out. "It's still a jail, we're still being bred by Decepticons, but they make it easy to forget."

"I know," Prowl stroked Bluestreak's doorwing in comfort. "It's better than anything we could have expected. An exceptional gilded cage. It's best to forget it's a cage as often as you can."

"At least I like Sirocco," Bluestreak added. "And I get to see Bee sometimes. You wanna stay for a while?" He glanced in Starscream's direction. "If you can. Or is there anyone else you want to see?"

"I'll have plenty of time to visit others when I live here. The two others I would want to catch up with aren't here anyway," Prowl smiled warmly. "Why don't we sit in your quarters and talk?"

"Sure!" Bluestreak brightened even more. "Who isn't here?"

"Red Alert and Sunstreaker," Prowl said softly as they walked towards Bluestreak's room. "I'm glad Red Alert chose what he did, even if it means I miss his company." ::Comm me when it's time to go?:: he commed Starscream.

::Do you one better,:: Starscream said, and pinged over the exact time they would need to leave.

::I will leave the room one breem before then,:: Prowl promised, pleased that Starscream knew him that well and thought to give him the information.

* * *

After getting Prowl back to his cell and settled in, Starscream brought two flutes of high grade to berth and curled up with him, only handing Prowl's over after leaning in to steal a kiss from him. "What did you think of the compound?" he asked.

"It is impressive," Prowl admitted without hesitation and relaxed against Starscream. "It will be a comfortable place to reside."

"Will be?" Starscream asked, trying to sound casual, but his voice lilted up hopefully. 

"I did agree before we spark merged," Prowl leaned over for a soft kiss before sipping the high grade. "I would like one more thing, and then we will kindle." He looked at Starscream with steady optics. "I want a new alt, new colors and minor cosmetic changes so I no longer look anything like the Enforcer I no longer am. A new appearance for a new function and future."

"I like the way you look," Starscream said, touching Prowl's face and trying to hide the surge of enjoyment that went through his field. "But the Enforcer look _is_ a bit dreary. I think I can fly that."

"Good," Prowl moved for another kiss while he put the flute of energon on the side table, his field thick with his intentions.

Starscream hummed into it. "I'm a little worried about the compound," he said, pulling back. "I didn't like the way some of them were looking at you."

"I do not believe any of those looks were hateful enough to actually try to harm me," Prowl said between kisses as he reached out to stroke large, lovely flight wings. "There were far more neutral looks than I expected." He paused and looked at Starscream seriously. "What options are there, other than here or there? Red Alert was a genuine medical exception. I'm not that close to breaking."

Starscream sighed. "None, really. I could try to get my place approved, but..." He cringed. "That would take a _lot_ of complaining at Megatron and it's not exactly... Well, anyway. The compound would be much better, healthier for you."

"Agreed, and it is not like you can't visit whenever you wish, and stay the night," Prowl relaxed back and drew Starscream over him as they continued to kiss. "It is not as if I am unaccustomed to moderate hostility to my existence."

Starscream grinned. "I'll show _you_ moderate hostility," he purred, downing the rest of his high grade and tossing the flute aside before pouncing on Prowl and pushing him to the berth with a possessive growl. The frame under him reacted with excitement, not fear, and it sent a thrill through Starscream to know he'd accomplished so much in two vorns. It was a huge victory for him.

"And I'll show you who had the endurance," Prowl rumbled back even as he spread his legs and bared his valve, eager and wanting. "Fill me until you collapse. Then I can burn off the rest inside you."

"After all this time and you _still_ think you have the greater endurance," Starscream laughed as he thrust in until he was fully seated inside. Once there he paused and pulled back, looking at Prowl seriously. "If you _ever_ want out of the compound, I'll get you out." 

"I'll hold you to that promise," Prowl answered before he squeezed and rippled his valve and pulled Starscream down for a heated kiss. "But mostly, I want to carry a flier, a seeker build."

"I can _definitely_ make sure of that," Starscream purred.


	7. What is Consent?

Starscream was having to try not to fly through the hallways, step light and cheery, mood the best it had been in _ages_ , already planning the evening with high grade, polish, massages--

"Starscream!"

Starscream cringed, stopping in his tracks and turning with lowered wings. "Lord Megatron?"

Megatron was glaring at him, arms folded. "And just where are you going?"

"Uh..." Starscream pointed down the hall. "To see Prowl...?"

Megatron's glare didn't ease. "And why do you look so happy about it?"

"Um..." The Seeker was slowly backing away. "Be _cause_ , oh mighty Lord Megatron, I know it pleases you that I work to provide an offspring for your _wonderful_ empire!"

Megatron just looked at him, then rolled his optics. "Well go on, get going," he said, and stalked on his way. Starscream stared after him for a moment, and then didn't waste any time scurrying the rest of the way towards Prowl's cell, ducking inside. 

The Praxian was lounging on the berth, and Starscream paused for a moment to enjoy the sight. It was very different from three orns ago. The mech was now varying shades of gray with glossy black trim. Even his chevron, once a bright scarlet, now matched his stormy colors as a mirror-finish black with a gray-blue shield that curved back along his helm. His frame was still decidedly Praxian, but the changes wrought by a sleeker, sportier alt mode were easy to pick out. It was an attractive frame, Starscream had to admit, even if it wasn't the one he'd long been used to.

"Are you ready?" Prowl trilled.

Sarscream's mouth curled up. "Well, _someone_ certainly is," he said, and made his way over to the berth, trailing his fingers along the padding. Prowl had dimmed the lights, and the low levels made his frame look sleek and mysterious. 

He spent another few moments looking, then slid onto the berth, fingers touching Prowl's chest. "I've been looking forward to this."

"I'm rather looking forward to the time when your coding has you still filling me after I pass out from the overloads," Prowl rumbled and reached for a kiss and unlocked his chest plates. "Are you ready to have the overload of your existence?"

"Of my _existence,_ now, is it?" Starscream purred, moving over him as his cockpit split down the middle. His optics locked on the bright, near-white spark below him and what this merge meant for it. Soon there would be a pale yellow orb circling it, a new life rich with Starscream's energy. "I'll hold you to that."

Prowl simply chuckled and reached up to stroke the cables leading to Starscream's spark chamber before following them in to touch the crystal itself.

Starscream shivered and leaned in to kiss him, bringing their chests nearly flush with only Prowl's hand between them. He was nervous, there would be no hiding it once they were fully merged. That or anything else. Their only merges until this point had been shallow, pleasure-focused. This would, by necessity, need them to completely bare themselves to each other. 

His crystal spiraled open and their sparks greeted each other with easy familiarity and Starscream understood the value of the pleasure merges they'd done in preparation. He had no doubt that deeper merges first would have also benefited them in the kindling effort, but that was simply too much, possibly for both of them. He could already feel the skittishness in Prowl's spark as the grounder moved his hand away. Prowl was nervous, uncertain about something and even at this level it was clear just how much his processor could override his spark when only frame and field were on display.

Starscream truly hoped it wouldn't take very many merges. The pleasure merges would be able to sustain the newspark after it was formed, and they both enjoyed those. Close, but not _too_ close. 

The first stages were easy and enjoyable and they settled together, frames warming. Starscream's wings shivered and lifted to cover both of them. ~Feels good,~ he said, resting in the light merge.

~Yes,~ Prowl used the light, familiar contact to settle himself. That he wasn't hiding his need to do that was testament to just how much effort was needed to deal with his deeper issues.

As nervous as Starscream was, he had no such deep insecurities and allowed Prowl to make the next move when he was ready. The seeker had spent more than two vorns working and earning the trust and agreement to get this far. He could wait the few extra moments his carrier needed to be ready for the next step. The part he cared about, the consent, the willingness, showed no hints it was being revoked.

Gradually Prowl settled himself as his processors isolated themselves from his spark and his spark invited Starscream in deeper.

Idly wondering if this would feel the same as the other times he'd shared a full spark merge, Starscream pressed forward. He met no resistance, felt no objection, and his spark shuddered as they came closer to each other's centers. 

Starscream wanted for this to succeed, wanted to create with Prowl. He'd never meant to merge with anyone else, but with the way things were, with Megatron expecting results, he realized that this was the best possible outcome. He'd go so far as to say he was lucky.

Then something soft caressed him with the feel of weapon grade steel inside it. It took a half-panicked moment to realize it was a message, a determined one Prowl was willing to fight, and fight hard, to make real.

~I do not blame you. The law will not blame you.~

~Blame me,~ Starscream repeated, and his spark felt funny. Nervous, as he melted deeper into his lover, he started to feel more carefully. ~Prowl? Blame me for what?~

A flicker of confusion came before the response. ~For interfacing and kindling with your prisoner. I know you have no more choice in this than I do. Megatron saw to that. The crime is his, not yours.~

Starscream froze. ~You ... don't want this?~ he asked, the only thing he could think of. 

Prowl froze in response to the question and reaction. ~I ... no. I do not want to be crippled, nor to dedicate centuries to a being I have no protocols or understanding of how to deal with. I want to be free. This is the price. I accept that price.~

~Oh, Primus, you--~ Starscream felt sick. This deeply merged, he could see the thoughts and beliefs behind those words, see that Prowl hadn't come to want it like he had, but that he'd resigned himself to it as a necessary step. To Prowl, this was--

Starscream wrenched out of the merge too fast and it left both sparks startled and burning, and pushed away from Prowl. "You were going to let me _rape_ you?" he shrieked, horrified.

Dazed but even more confused, Prowl stared at him as their armor closed and locked. "The crime is not yours," he repeated. "You were ordered to do this. The crime is Megatron's."

"But _I'm_ the one you can say no to!" Starscream said, and got off the berth, backing away. "All you had to do was say no! I thought you _wanted_ this! You made me think you wanted it!"

Prowl scowled, confused and off balance. "I did my best to make the necessary less painful for us both. I may accept being executed as a potential fate. That does not mean I prefer it to carrying. A carry is temporary. Even raising the result is temporary. Deactivation is final."

Starscream stared at him and tried to calm down, to think about something besides how horrified this made him feel. He tried to bring what he'd seen in Prowl's spark into clearer focus in his processors. "You ... as long as you're captive, you don't think there can be consent," he said.

Prowl stared right back. "You ... believe there can be? That a prisoner can give, or refuse, consent to his keeper goes against all definitions of consent and equality I'm aware of. You hold power over me just as Megatron holds it over you. Neither of us are in a position to refuse the other."

" _You_ are!" Starscream protested. "If you refuse to carry there are other ways to live!" 

"You genuinely believe that." Prowl's expression turned almost sad. "Starscream, you can't believe that Megatron would tolerate the enemy leader's continued existence if that leader wasn't a carrier. I would have been executed as a matter of course shortly after I surrendered if I hadn't been a carrier and he needed a carrier more than he needed a public example. He made no secret to me that my continued comfort and likely my survival was directly dependent on my compliance."

Starscream made a choking sound. "Why didn't you say anything? He would have made me keep courting you as long as it took, I could have faked it."

"I expected you understood what I did about consent and the situation, and I'm not that cruel." Prowl said quietly. "I'm not so dedicated to my own comfort, even my own existence, to bind another to me that way. It's not right. This was the better choice in my estimation. We both get what we want. I get out, and you would be free to court the mecha you actually wanted."

"I--you thought this was about _Brainstorm?_ " Starscream asked. "Still? I--I was going..." He trailed off, shaking his head, and his wings dropped. "Doesn't matter anymore, you don't want this."

Prowl didn't know how to respond to any of that. He had nothing to fight the truth with. He could only curse himself for misunderstanding Starscream so completely.

"I, I'll go," Starscream said, backing away and looking at Prowl like he didn't know how to react to his presence. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for ... this."

"Neither did I," Prowl murmured. "I apologize for misjudging you. I would have chosen differently if I had understood."

Starscream cringed, looking away. "I'll talk to Megatron, your behavior has been ... admirable. It should be taken into consideration should you be reassigned to a different program."

Prowl offered him a forced smile, but his frame gave no doubt that that his expectation that he'd be reassigned was nil. "Thank you."

"I won't let him kill you," Starscream said with sudden heat, looking back. "I'll figure something out. No one will touch you without your consent."

Prowl inclined his helm. "I appreciate the effort."

Starscream opened his mouth, trying to think of something, _anything_ , realized there was nothing to say, and all but fled. As he walked away, he couldn't help but watch the camera feed from Prowl's cell, even as _guilt_ knotted into his spark while he did. The Praxian curled in on himself; his back against the wall, his forehelm on his knees and his arms wrapped tightly around them. His doorwings were all but invisible they were pulled so far down. What really tore at Starscream, though, was a klik later, when the tight grip loosened slightly and he realized that Prowl trembling with silent keens.

He stopped mid-step. This was wrong, this was _all_ wrong, this wasn't how it was supposed to go--

"Weren't you supposed to be somewhere?" 

Starscream startled, jumped around and saw Megatron frowning at him. "Keep the frag away from me," he hissed, pushed past him and stalked back to Prowl's cell. The Praxian looked surprised and struggled to put himself to rights when Starscream walked back in and went right over to the berth. This close Prowl's field, still outside of his ready control, was a wild testament to how distraught the mech was and how fast he was sinking into the depression that would settle him. "If I get you out--if I figure out a way to get you moved to a program with citizenship--" He broke off, shook his head, and tried to figure out what he was saying. "If I courted you when you were free...."

Prowl forced his face up despite how clearly the emotions, mostly pain, were written on it. "What _for?_ "

"Because I--" 

_Because I want a chance to be with you._

"Because I _care_ ," Starscream said. "Because I look forward to seeing you. I want more than a creation--or no creation--I don't care!"

Prowl just stared at him and Starscream could read the thoughts painfully well.

_You're delusional._

"I recommend saving that judgment for after you get to know who I normally am. I'm not known as a sparkless drone by my own troops without reason. You haven't met Prowl yet."

Starscream's wings twitched and he pulled back, startled by the coldness in the field, the sudden and complete detachment on Prowl's face. "Prowl, _please!_ "

"Whatever comes of this, know I don't fault you." Prowl signed, resigned and hurting even as he gratefully sank into the cold numbness. All he wanted was to be alone long enough to reboot and set his tac-net parameters to where they belonged. Just to be alone long enough to make the pain of rejection and being so _wrong_ go away.

"Hey-- _hey_ , c'mon, look at me," Starscream said, trying to catch the empty, blank gaze. All feeling was receding from his field, the Prowl he was familiar with was disappearing in front of his optics. "I'll get you out, okay? I _swear_. I want to make this work."

"Don't swear to do something you don't control. My fate is Megatron's to decide, and you will tell him just how useless I am to him," Prowl said with an eerie calm as he looked up without really seeing the mech in front of him. "You don't know me. You know a construct created to allow this frame to carry a newspark to term without traumatizing it too much. You won't like what I am without it any better than others do." He lowered his face to his knees and shuddered to settle. "Go. Find someone worth rescuing. I'll never be trusted enough to be tolerable to be around."

"So all of that was a lie?" Starscream hissed, wings hiking up in anger as he stood to his full height. " _Frag you._ I hope you _rust._ " He cut the feed to the surveillance and stalked out, this time not looking back.

* * *

Starscream didn't wait for permission to enter Megatron's official chambers as soon as he'd located the warlord's signal. " _MEGATRON!_ " he shouted, and already had his null rays aimed at the doorway he knew the mech would come through. 

The warlord stepped through, showing no fear of the weapon. "You failed and you threaten me for it?" he raised an optic ridge at his SIC.

"This is YOUR fault!" Starscream screeched at him. "If you had just let me court Brainstorm and let him choose the sire he wanted none of this would have happened!"

Megatron laughed. "All that's going to happen is you are going to continue to work on him until he changes his mind or you admit you're incapable of it."

"No, I'm _not_ ," Starscream hissed as his wings rattled and he stalked over, completely unintimidated by the former gladiator's sheer size and mass as he reached up to grab Megatron's collar and yank him down. "Do you know _why_ not, _glorious_ leader?"

"I heard the lie he told you," Megatron said.

Starscream hesitated, long enough for Megatron to see it and smirk. " _What_ lie?" he demanded.

"That I told him he had no other ways out of that cell," Megatron smirked a little more. "I never said he had to kindle. In fact he implied to me he was rather willing to do so, once you'd paid for his inconvenience."

"He still feels as though he's being raped, you imbecilic _fool_ ," Starscream spat, hiding how much Megatron's words tore at him by freezing his wings in an aggressive posture. "That there can be no consent in a cell!"

"He said no such thing to me," Megatron pointed out. "Even if it's true, what would you have done? He can't be turned loose without proving he is no longer a danger." His expression hardened. "He is correct about one thing. If he wasn't a carrier and we didn't need them so desperately, I would have executed him long ago."

"So let him go into one of the programs, if you need him so badly!" Starscream said. "He's behaved perfectly, given no cause for punishment. He'll never agree to kindle locked up, not when both parties are being coerced! To the core of his spark he believes that _you_ were taking advantage of both of us!"

Megatron scowled, teeking the truth of that in the seeker's field. "I need him as a carrier, nothing else. He'll never _be_ anything else."

"He could _help_ you!" Starscream snarled. "You're just too much of a self-centered, arrogant, puffed-up _glitch_ to see it!"

"He's an enemy commander," Megatron growled back. "It takes a fool to believe he'll change his processors about us given why he's an Autobot."

"What--because he we _destroyed his city?_ " Starscream asked, rolling his optics. "Have your processors finally rusted, Megatron? Anyone would become an enemy for that, it doesn't hold him back from being capable of useful work now!"

"Useful as a carrier. Not to be put in a position of any authority or value that they could use to sabotage me," Megatron snapped back. "Or are you daft enough to believe that _any_ Autobot will be allowed more than unimportant work?"

"That's what we _promised_ them in return for obeying the law!"

"No, I promised them citizenship, nothing more," Megatron shrugged. "I never promised advancement."

"What is citizenship without opportunity?" Starscream asked, disgusted.

"More than the enemy has any right to hope for. What do you think they would have done with us if they'd won, Starscream?" Megatron sneered at him.

Starscream's wings flicked and he looked down and to the side. "Little better," he ground out, before his optics lifted with renewed heat. "Which just makes you no better than they are!"

"Little better, Starscream?" Megatron stared at him. "Officers are executed, publicly and slowly. Lower ranks are either executed en mass or worked to death on starvation rations. You were functioning when some of my early allies were captured. That was before we'd even declared war."

" _I've_ known the spark of Optimus Prime's second-in-command," Starscream snapped. "Have you?"

"You know I haven't merged with him," Megatron scowled. "What does it matter?"

"It means that _I_ know more than _you_ ," Starscream said, flipping his hand dismissively and turning away. "Like _that's_ a surprise."

The snarl of Megatron's engine behind him was all the warning he got before claws sunk into his wing and yanked him back, pulling him off his feet. The half-startled, half-pained shriek was silenced by the impact against the wall and then Megatron was over him, one firm blow to his chest sending near-invisible cracks spiderwebbing across his cockpit. Wing plating was torn away and his helm was grabbed between two powerful sets of claws and slammed back, shorting out his optics. Starscream frantically rebooted as the same claws wrapped around his neck, digging into his vocalizer and making him spit static. 

"Unless you get out right now," Megatron growled deeply, "The next word you speak will be your last." 

Starscream glared up at him with dark, murderous red optics, but when Megatron let go, he scrambled away and fled.

* * *

Megatron stalked through the halls, his mood darker than anytime since winning the war. Despite his best efforts he couldn't forget about Starscream's words, nor about Prowl's when they'd been speaking out loud. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew he would have chosen the same path as Prowl claimed he was if put in a similar situation.

Survive. Escape. Recover. Revenge.

He'd been through it more than a few times, and so had his mate. As different as Prowl's history was, he couldn't dismiss the logic of the plan, or that Prowl was brutally logical and pragmatic when it came to planning.

He had to know what the mech had planned.

He was obviously skilled enough to hide his intentions from Megatron's second in command, addled as he suspected the seeker was, but Megatron himself was determined to see through to the bottom of it. 

He reached the cell and palmed it open, just barely avoiding crushing the security pad as he did, sweeping in without notice. The subject of his frustration was lying on the berth and only slowly powered his optics on.

"Come to tell me my fate yourself?" Prowl asked calmly.

"Perhaps," Megatron said, regarding him. Prowl looked calm, centered. Actually, he looked completely disinterested, almost emotionless. "Did you or did you not consent to kindle with my Second?"

"Apparently it depends on your definition of consent," Prowl shrugged slightly. "I consented such as is possible given the situation and promised I didn't blame him for the remainder. It wasn't enough for him."

Megatron frowned. "What would be enough for him?"

"That I want to carry his creation without it being demanded of me. Consenting to carry for a probable transfer to the carrier complex and a better situation was not sufficient."

"He claims you were the one to limit the definition of consenting, including him within it," Megatron said. "Was he lying to me?"

"Given his orders, he can consent no more than I can per the legal definitions I'm coded with," Prowl shrugged.

Megatron tilted his head, optics narrowing as he tried to decide if the unnerving Praxian was as detached as he appeared. Megatron himself had watched the surveillance of Starscream's courting efforts, and the emotions displayed had seemed as genuine as anything he could expect of the pair. "Would you like him brought up on rape charges?" he asked, trying a different angle.

"Negative." Prowl leveled his gaze at the warlord. "You gave the orders. He only obeyed."

"Would you like _me_ brought up on rape charges?" Megatron asked next, a single optic ridge lifting up.

"Yes," Prowl answered, just as steady.

"Against how many victims?" Megatron asked, somewhat curious, but largely just deeply disturbed. 

"Based on what I understand, three. Sunstreaker, Starscream and myself," Prowl said, still as steady as before. "Everyone else was allowed to select who they courted, if anyone at all, and thus are responsible for their own actions."

Megatron nodded once. "I would like to merge with you," he said. "To help me determine both of your fates." 

Prowl twitched, displeased but without objection as he shifted to lay flat and unlocked his armor.

Megatron tried not to growl and fought the desire to shake Prowl by the shoulders. Didn't this mech understand that he'd been offered a better life? Didn't he understand that Megatron was trying to _help?_ Who was he to try to make _him_ , Lord Megatron, feel guilt? 

"I will take that as your consent," he rumbled and moved over him, his own chest plates parting. He tried not to think about the flatness of the field against his, how utterly unnatural it felt. Brilliant near-white light shone from beneath him, a sharp contrast to the deep, dark red light that barely moved beyond Megatron's own frame as he crystal was revealed. 

Prowl's crystal opened and his spark reached out on reflex for the spark nearby despite the way the owner wanted to pull away with tiny flickers of fear in spark and field.

"I'm not going to hurt you here," Megatron rumbled down at the smaller mech, resisting the pull until those flickers went away. "If I ever do, it will be very public." 

That, Megatron could teek, Prowl fully believed and it didn't take long for him to settle, his field smoothing out completely. Even Prowl's spark seemed to settle at the simple promise. It wasn't lost on Megatron that Prowl did seem to believe he had some honor.

It was something, at least. 

He lowered his frame down the rest of the way and their sparks came together, his pressing forward with more insistence as the leaders tied together and pulled. The coronas met, then melded together, and Megatron's inner-most awareness opened forward. It met only nominal resistance, far less than he'd expected, but beyond that was a maelstrom of emotions that should have made it to Prowl's field but hadn't.

Loss, failure, confusion, pain, so much pain that it took Megatron a long moment to sort out the old -- the loss of old unit mates, the loss of Praxus, the losses from early in the war -- from the new -- the loss of his Prime and the war -- from the fresh -- the rejection by Starscream. A bit of nudging at that was all he needed to know it wasn't the loss of his potential future that hurt, but that Prowl did care about the seeker on some level.

It didn't take long past that to realize that the links between spark and processors had been almost completely sealed off. It helped to explain some of the eerie, emotionless manner that the Praxian displayed. 

Megatron pressed forward until he felt resistance and then stopped there. ~Tell me what _consent_ is.~

~Agreement without regret,~ Prowl's spark answered, along with awareness that it wasn't _Prowl's_ definition, only the one the spark held.

~Would you--he--have regretted the kindling?~ Megatron asked, now more bewildered by the bizarre mech beneath him than he had been before.

The uneasy shifting of energy marked uncertainty rather than reluctance. ~I don't think so. Afraid of it. Afraid of hurting it. He can't _feel_ right. Even with all the lines between spark and processor open and the tac-net as disabled as he dares it's muted, distorted. Like this ... emotions don't exist.~ The spark focused on the question again. ~It's complicated, when spark and processors aren't the same. It's all law. I feel.~

~Starscream saw something in _you_ that made him unwilling,~ Megatron pressed, speaking directly to the spark. ~Or is this the result of...~ He pulled the feeling of _rejection_ and _pain_ up, the freshest of the hurts. ~Are you like this because of that?~

The spark wanted to pull away from the hurt and the links to the processor closed even tighter. ~I didn't meant to. Just wanted to reassure him, comfort him. Processors swore he couldn't consent.~

~And he rejected you for it,~ Megatron said, seeing a flicker of the message the spark had sent pass through their combined awareness. ~If I release you into the work force, as Starscream would have me do, what do you plan?~

 _Bewildered-unsure-nothing_ flickered forward first, then a more coherent thought. ~You need to ask the processors. They're in charge. I just feel things it ignores and power it.~

~What does it ignore?~ Megatron crooned.

~What I feel,~ came the answer with a bit of confusion. ~All of it.~

~What makes you feel the _most?_ ~ Megatron asked, caressing the spark that felt delightfully easy to control. It was no wonder Prowl kept himself locked off from this part of himself. Soundwave and Shockwave used the same tactic, but they were both better at listening and understanding, and then crushing their sparks' reactions. ~What is joyful, what is terrifying?~

Uncertainty came first and lingered as Megatron watched. _Pain_ it knew, and was equated with rejection, failure and deactivation of others. Joy was loosely linked as its opposite, which meant success, but there was nothing the spark really had that left much of an impression along those lines.

Terror though, no matter how hard it shied away, the instant that was answered Megatron found himself dragged into the shattering inferno that was Praxus's destruction from the viewpoint of a survivor. Frames scattered everywhere, most in pieces, himself barely alive as the sound of jets rocketed overhead. Screams and pain and _loss_ and horror so all-consuming that the air itself tasted bitter from it. 

And then it stopped, the memories pulled back into the shivering spark. 

Megatron took a moment to collect himself. ~Do you believe me guilty of rape, against both Prowl and Starscream?~ he asked.

~No,~ the spark answered, a bit more sure of this. ~Legal thing. Processor thing.~

~You consented, and the processors did not,~ Megatron mused. Red tendrils groped deeper, searching for any exploitable weakness. ~Do you desire one particular sire, or would any sire suffice? I can still make it so you kindle, set you on that path. Your creation would be an asset to my new world.~

 _Starscream's nice/so dangerous/processors have to agree_ hit Megatron in a jumble before coherent thoughts did.

~Someone stable enough to take care good of it,~ the spark responded sadly. ~Prowl can't.~

~There are many who would agree to such a condition,~ Megatron said as a hard shudder moved through him. The merge was getting harder to control, spasms of pleasure moving through. ~Starscream is not one of them.~

~You need to talk to the processors. I don't make those choices. I can barely suggest.~ 

~I will,~ Megatron promised, and then his arms wrapped around the smaller frame and he roared in overload, energy pushing hot and hard into Prowl's chamber. The near-white spark surged in response, not the least bit resistant to the overload that startled the frame more than pleasured it.

"Did you learn what you needed?" Prowl's voice was even with only slightly more inflection than Soundwave's as Megatron's optics managed to focus once their sparks were hidden away once more.

Damn him, he didn't even seem affected by the overload. Megatron gathered himself as quickly as he could. "I learned that you are the reason I lost one of the most promising prospects for creations," he said. 

Ice blue optics looked at him, unphased by the statement and all it could imply.

"You will lie to me if I ask what you would do with minimal freedom," Megatron said evenly, rolling onto his side and propping himself up on his elbow, looking down at Prowl.

An optic ridge raised, but that was all the warlord got. No objection, no insistence that he would tell the truth, no effort to defend himself at all. Prowl simply waited.

"Do you _want_ to deactivate?" Megatron asked.

"That depends on the alternatives," Prowl answered calmly.

"Breeding with Starscream, or another of your choice," Megatron said. "If you refuse, as is still your right, no one will touch you. Starscream has come begging for you to be grated limited citizenship--I've never known him to be so taken. That, too, will be granted should you desire, but with far less comfort and much more surveillance than your current state."

"Why change you processors?" Prowl asked.

"You stand to be useful, in the long run," Megatron said. "You've punished Starscream most admirably, I could not have hoped for more. You are valuable as a carrier. And I will have no regrets having you slaughtered in the streets the first time I sense a hint of malice."

Prowl inclined his helm as he sat up. "The sire will be required to take full custody and responsibility for their creation. It will be on the sire to explain why the creation's carrier wants nothing to do with either of them, should the creation ask. It will not exist to me after separation."

"That can be arranged," Megatron said, mouth curling up. He stayed relaxed on the berth. "I know plenty who do not have the same _cares_ as your former suitor, and I am happy to breed you as long as you will consent to produce for my empire. What of the sires who desire influence?"

"The sire may have as much influence as they wish, in spark or frame," Prowl answered. "Which path, limited citizen or breeder facility, will allow me a t-cog and to go racing sooner?"

"Racing?" Megatron asked. " _That_ is your primary concern, _racing?_ " He threw his helm back with a deep, rolling laugh that came from deep within his frame. 

Prowl waited silently. 

"Hmm, limited citizenship," Megatron finally decided. At least, that was how he would make it happen. He preferred for Prowl to be under constant surveillance, locked away and constantly guarded. At the first sign of trouble--and every moment would be watched--he would be painfully executed before the public, actively carrying or not.

"At what point will I receive a t-cog and the freedom to race?" Prowl asked patiently. "How long before I will be allowed to drive where I wish?"

"As soon as your first creation separates," Megatron purred, and his chest cracked down the middle, "And then as soon as I can trust you to not leave or rebel. Faster than any carrier in the compound."

"What will this merge be for?" Prowl asked with no apparent care.

"To fill you with life," Megatron said, making no move towards Prowl. The Praxian would have to come to him. "So as to return your t-cog to you soonest."

Prowl considered the statement and offer. "Where will I recharge, receive energon, clean up and what will be my duties while I carry, and after separation?"

"If you are comfortable here, I will not move you," Megatron said. "Your visitors will be _strictly_ limited. Should you prefer a change, I will arrange for an apartment. You can have your own basic washrack, and an energon dispenser will be provided. Your duties will be to prime your frame to carry my creation. After separation, we will find work that pleases you."

"Here is fine," Prowl said as he poked around his processor to activate protocols that he distantly knew should have intense emotional connections but simply didn't. It was better that way. "Do you wish the greatest chance of kindling the strongest newspark now?"

"I do wish it," Megatron purred, delighted by Prowl's complete willingness. He hoped Starscream was watching. "I will be by frequently to contribute to both spark and frame."

"Understood," Prowl stated as his chest armor split. "Then try to hold back as long as you can. The more intense the overload, the more energy there is for the newspark to form. What position do you want to be in?"

"Top," Megatron growled, and pushed himself over Prowl, covering him completely as his spark was bared. He didn't understand what Starscream's problem was. Prowl was willing to trade carrying for freedoms, that was as much consent as any of the Autobots had been granted. 

Prowl went lax under him, relaxed in a way that Sunstreaker had never been and likely would never be. The frame was willing, the processors had agreed and Megatron was fairly sure the spark wouldn't object at this point. The bright near-white spark sent leaders out to lick at Megatron's armor, internals and spark chamber. Each contact was a zap of pleasure that contained the distinct flavor of the spark it came from.

He pressed in, and the spark didn't speak to him this time, and when he felt resistance, he continued to push until it gave way to him, pushing deeper and deeper until their cores came flush, crackling and throbbing together. Megatron knew this molten pleasure, and savored every moment. The image of Starscream watching them was a powerful one.

He was only distantly aware that the spark merged with him wasn't really paying attention to him, or at least it was trying not to. This deep in a merge it was impossible to ignore the presence of another and Megatron felt the moment when the spark came to terms with the deal the processor had made. It stopped hiding. It still didn't respond to him, not consciously, but sank into the pleasure without comment with the focus of creating a new spark.

He held out for as long as he could, the silence making it easier, the sheer concentration of the spark mingling with his own helping him do the same. They were both lost in a pleasured daze by the time overload crept upon them, and Megatron knew to wait until Prowl's had started.

That first searing surge from the core of Prowl's spark ignited the power stored in Megatron's and flashed outward before pulling back in, centering the overload on their sparks and almost completely missing their frames. It was intense, and familiar, and Megatron felt his strength being taken for the very purpose he'd started this. 

Their sparks separated with a shudder and Megatron looked down eagerly, panting. "Well?" he demanded.

"I believe it worked," Prowl answered, though he was less than certain. "I am not familiar enough with the readings to check."

"We will have a medic brought," Megatron said as his chest finished closing. His spark was sore from the back to back merges, but his frame felt energized. He shoved between Prowl's legs, spreading them open with his knees. The smaller mech relaxed into the motion and slid his valve cover open. Even though Megatron could see it wasn't ready, Prowl made no protest.

"After all you've seen, and you don't refuse me?" Megatron asked, lining the tip of his spike up. "Do you consent to take my nanites, now until separation?"

"Yes," Prowl said without hesitation.

Megatron smirked, and shoved forward, burying himself in a single thrust. The valve contracted around him and he could feel the hot rush of energon from the tears, and the scant amount of lubricant wasn't enough to ease the friction. 

But, _oh_ , victory felt so sweet. And Prowl was so pliant, _easy_ to fill, thrust after thrust. Prowl's field expressed neither pain nor pleasure, nor did he care to do anything but lie there. Megatron knew buymecha who reacted more to the pleasure of an interface. Still, it hardly mattered. Not when he got his creation in the end.

* * *

Megatron acknowledged the medic's report that Prowl was fully repaired, healthy, and showing clear signs of having successfully kindled. Spark merging would help to strengthen the newspark and encourage it to fall into orbit, and increase the odds of it surviving the first metacycle. It would also strengthen its ties to Megatron and the spark-traits Megatron could pass on. He rose from his lounge and began the trip to the security compound. 

Coincidentally, he received another notice from Hook not two kliks later that Starscream was also fully repaired and functional. Megatron smirked to himself at the memories. It had been a satisfying engagement. 

He palmed open the door to Prowl's cell and headed in. The storm-colored Praxian, now with not even a bright chevron to make him stand out, was all laid out on the berth reading a bookfile.

"Megatron," the liquid shadow with ice blue optics looked up and focused with the cold calmness of Soundwave and even less inflection in his deep voice. "It seems I misjudged you. We need to come to an understanding if you intend to touch me again."

"Oh?" Megatron asked, warmth flowing through his voice and field as he hid his bemusement. "And what would that be?"

"It is unsuitable to damage the carrier of your creation, whether out of impatience, ignorance or other issues," Prowl said with utter calm certainty. "Every joule of energy that goes to repairing, integrating repairs and stress is energy that is denied the creation to grow strong with."

"I didn't realize you cared," Megatron said, genuinely surprised. He held his hand over his spark. "I will not knowingly cause damage to your frame, unless it is in the interests of the Empire, so long as you carry my creation."

Prowl inclined his helm and extended his hand, palm open in offering and acceptance. "I do have some carrier protocols active now, though primarily I did not anticipate that you would consider damaging your carrier acceptable."

Megatron inclined his helm and stepped fully into the room, crossing the distance to the berth. He placed his palm over Prowl's, fingers stretching past the smaller mech's wrist, meeting his optics. "Have you been informed of your medical status?"

"Affirmative. I requested that Hook educate me on what the various readings mean so I can better care for the creation while it is in my frame," Prowl answered. "I have never shied from my duties. I do not intend to begin now."

A small, pleased smile came over Megatron's features. "It is a trait I have both admired and cursed these many vorns," he said, making his way over to the single, too-small lounge and sitting carefully. "Do you consider accepting the strength of my spark as part of those duties?" 

"Affirmative," Prowl answered easily as he settled, bookfire put away and relaxed amongst and against the many pillows Starscream had given him. "As well as your transfluid for its frame."

"Both gladly provided," Megatron purred, steepling his fingers together. "Do you have any preference for frequency, and would you like to be notified before my arrivals?"

"Based on my research, the optimum frequency is to merge twice an orn, separated by equal time. Thus morning and evening. Once construction begins, four times an orn when you overload until you are dry," Prowl spelled it out as if he was speaking of the weather, or how often to change duty shifts. "It is also beneficial for the newspark to be within your field as much as possible. The easiest way to provide this is to recharge with me. That is optional, however it improves the bond between creation and sire. Something that is very much in your best interests. Beyond being on top, do you have any interfacing preferences or kinks?"

"My pleasures are simple," Megatron said, rubbing his mouth with one finger, thinking. "Would you prefer for me to perform these duties every other orn, or perform half of them every orn? Sunstreaker also requires my attention. You could reside together, if that made the situation easier."

"I am agreeable to residing with Sunstreaker, though I would need to speak with him to be sure he also finds it so," Prowl gave a thoughtful hum. "It is the most logical choice. Sunstreaker is not known for his logic, however. If he is not agreeable to sharing a berth and space, then half every orn would be best for the newspark."

"I will discuss the matter with him," Megatron said, leaning forward, gaze never leaving the Praxian as he rose up to his pedes. "He more than anyone is likely to see value in having his creation close to a brother even while being carried."

"Do you have time to merge now?" Prowl asked, his optics lingering on the invisible seam down Megatron's chest.

"It was my reason for coming," Megatron said as he closed the distance between them, climbing over Prowl on the berth. "Do _you_ have any interfacing preferences or kinks?"

"Yes," Prowl said as he settled under the warlord, his chest plates unlocking and spreading without hesitation. "Interfacing combined with hot liquids -- a shower or pool -- has a low enough emotional content to still be desirable. Tactile spark play may still work. Overload denial has a lower probability, but might work."

Megatron's engines rumbled. "I have a hot oil pool that we may use on occasion," he said as his spark came into view.

"I would enjoy that," Prowl said as his spark reached for the sire of its creation, hungry for the compatible energy. At the same time Prowl's processors turned inward to occupy themselves while the focus of his company went to his spark.

Megatron watched the disconnect before focusing in on the life that powered this frame. Prowl's spark felt ... different, just a little bit, and he could feel it pulling him in. He pushed forward images of the oil pool and the bliss of being completely submerged in that heat. The spark surged forward with _pleasure-enjoyment-want_ thick in the emotional swirl. There was still a sense of _this is weird_ in the background, but despite how hurt the spark had been by Starscream's recent rejection, it was beginning to associate Megatron with acceptance and _useful_.

Megatron himself had more than enough use for Prowl, and the feeling was completely mutual as the sparks met again, familiar enough with each other's rhythms for the merge to deepen smoothly. It wasn't flawless, but they would reach that quickly. 

~How are you finding the kindling?~ Megatron asked between the push and pull of energy.

~Strange. Nice. It feels right.~ the spark tried to explain something it had no background for. ~I think it'll be very strong.~

~I _know_ it will be strong,~ Megatron purred. ~It will be my creation, there is no other option.~

A semi-reflex from existing so long as an aware subordinate to the processors it powered flickered with _there is always another option_ but the spark didn't actually say it. It simply relaxed into the energy building merge, the flow from one to the other and the focus they both hand on strengthening the tiny, non-yet-aware mote of energy with the surge of pleasure and intense energy that came with the eventual overload.

It was powerful, and they both sensed that it was _good_. The last, lingering caresses sent shivers through their frames as the energy was absorbed into Prowl's spark and fed right to the wisp of life. 

"That was enjoyable," Megatron rumbled contentedly as he recovered, his armor closed along with the dark armor under him.

"Interfacing should be," Prowl responded evenly, his voice hinting that he'd felt very little of the pleasure and wasn't bothered by the fact.

"Mm, but you don't feel what your spark does," Megatron mused, looking down into the blank face. "Do you have any preferences for your own pleasure before the protoform construction begins?"

"Unless it involves that hot oil pool, not particularly. Any willing overload is a good one," Prowl answered after considering it a moment.

"I will make sure it is prepared for us sometime soon," Megatron said, and curiously touched Prowl's chest. "Do you prefer a different designation from your spark's?"

Prowl cocked his helm and really thought about it. "I cannot say that it makes a difference to me. If you prefer to distinguish it with a different or derivative designation, I do not mind."

Megatron hummed and shrugged, tracing up and down the center seam in a silent request that was answered without question or hesitation. He wanted to make up for what Prowl had obviously seen as a serious transgression before and take the time to _care_ for his carrier. "You feel pleasure as separate creatures," he purred, trying to entice with his field. He felt the field flicker back, but the response was weak and a bit awkward.

"True enough," Prowl agreed with the first fluctuation of his vocal tone, one of early pleasure and arousal.

Megatron's smile was pleased, smug, as his fingers touched Prowl's crystal. Of the listed options, this was the easiest request to fulfill, and judging from the way Prowl's frame moved and warmed from the very first brush, it would be _very_ easy indeed. Ice blue optics shuttered and powered down as Prowl's helm sank back, exposing his throat. It was submission, but it was also a look of intense pleasure as the charcoal lip plates parted with an audible moan.

It was encouraging, and Megatron couldn't resist leaning in to press his mouth to the bared neck, denta wrapping lightly around a primary fuel cable. He'd never just touched a crystal like this before, felt the patterns and the smooth crystal. Baring one's spark chamber was not a common activity among most mecha, at least none that he'd known. He couldn't help but wonder how Prowl had acquired this kink, and exactly what it was to him, if it wasn't emotional. Every kink Megatron understood was either about power, trust or both. They were purely emotional in what they added to an interface.

Prowl's frame, all but the center of his chest, shuddered with the pleasure surging through it and that vulnerable neck pressed further into Megatron's denta as the pleasure began to flare up, bright and plasma hot against his field. At least if he had to pleasure the Praxian, it was simple to do. Megatron continued to work his fingers over the crystal, and he knew his field had to show the sheer, powerful _thrill_ that having his once-enemy exposed like this created in him. He idly wondered if Prowl had a submissive streak--if he got off the hardest on the vulnerability of surrender.

Dark hands suddenly gripped Megatron's armor, but the warlord knew the differences between a grip to hurt and a grip to hold on without thinking about it. The Praxian, the carrier of his second creation, was definitely just trying to hold on as the pleasure threatened to send him flying apart. It was a rush for them both when Prowl howled into a keen of bliss and untethered energy crackled between their frames in a wild dance of pure bliss.

Megatron's larger frame absorbed much of the charge and it set his systems running hot, but not high enough to push him to overload--or to even really crave one--and he waited until Prowl's grip loosened before pulling back and flopping to the side, propped up and looking at him as dark armor closed. "And that has little emotional content?" he asked with an amused rumble.

"Pure physical sensation and the satisfying of protocols," Prowl's voice had a touch of static to it and the lazy slur of being sated.

Despite Prowl's relaxed, sated manner, Megatron could smell the lubricant held back by the valve cover.

"Protocols," Megatron hummed, optics going down Prowl's frame. "Something you were created for? To submit?" His fingers trailed down, and he curiously brought one leg up over Prowl's pelvis.

"All Enforcers were designed to submit to rank and order," Prowl began to purr and didn't resist both his interface covers sliding open. "Interface preferences varied as widely as in the general population. I was unusual in I was considered an almost perfect switch. Dom, sub or equal all work comparably well for me."

That gave Megatron a moment of pause as he glanced up at the smoky face. It was no wonder Starscream had become so enthralled. "And right now..." He hefted himself back up and over, this time touching Prowl's valve with his fingers instead of just shoving the Praxian's thighs apart. They came back slick with lubricant and he pushed a single finger in.

A soft moan came from Prowl as he willingly spread his legs and brought one up to rub against Megatron's hip. His valve was relaxed, hot and ready as he rippled around the intrusion, wanting more. "Submission. It gets you off."

"It does indeed," Megatron purred as he crooked a finger and moved slowly in and out, teasing and relishing in the moans and rocking of Prowl's hips into his attention. "Moreso when my partner is powerful."

"Victory, a prize," Prowl gasped as he shivered, his charge beginning to build once more. "Proof you are worthy of what you claim."

"Mhmm." Megatron slipped another finger in alongside the first. The rim parted easily, the walls were warm and tight around him as he turned his wrist back and forth, testing the stretch. His carrier demanded care; he would show he was capable. His spike panel slid back and the tip began to emerge as he listened to the revving of the race engine beneath him. 

A third finger was added and even now, there was only slight resistance. The fourth felt some tightness but made Prowl moan and squirm in a delicious way that had him wanting to push further. The fingers were withdrawn and Megatron brought all five together and pushed in.

Prowl gasped and bucked into it, the stimulation catching him before the stretch registered. At that point Prowl squirmed a bit uncomfortably, but not yet to the point where he'd object. He knew this was thicker than the spike and it helped him relax.

Megatron waited until he settled, then began spreading the fingers that were already inside to stimulate the deeper sensors. His hand turned slowly and he felt some friction and pulled back a little, bringing lubricant out to coat the stretched rim before pushing back in. 

The going was slow and by the time he had half his hand in, Prowl's entire frame was panting with effort, thighs pulled obscenely wide. Megatron began slow, gentle thrusting--more like pulses than true thrusts--moving just a tiny fraction deeper every time, as much as the frame would allow.

Prowl's fingers curled into the berth padding as he shook with his charge, trying to hold on but it was no use. Not long before the thickest ridge of knuckles he keened sharply as his entire frame arched off the berth with the rush of charge that would no longer be denied.

Megatron worked his hand in and out through the overload, feeling the tight walls ripple around him as Prowl's drove downward, seeking the deeper stimulation that simply could not be found from the fingers. As the overload crested and began to fade, Megatron moved swiftly, pulling his hand away and pushing in with his hips, burying his spike in a single, smooth motion. 

Driving into a burning, overloading valve that immediately clamped down around him was enough to make the big mech groan as he seated himself and held there, motionless, giving Prowl something to buck against. He watched and felt the mech so known for logical decisions and near-emotionless manner writhe, gasp and keen as his frame took what was offered and cascaded a second, smaller overload at the deeper stimulation. Through it all, right up to the gasping, panting end when Prowl sank down to the berth, there was not a hint of embarrassment in the Praxian. It wasn't the normal reaction of a mecha fixated on control, but it was delicious to watch.

When Prowl finally stilled, his valve didn't stop squeezing and rubbing minutely against the thick spike inside it. Megatron gave a low growl of approval and began to rock, slow, steady, _deep_ , and he could feel just how much of a difference arousal made in this mech. Whatever he'd done right, Prowl was _loving_ it. 

Three frame-centered overloads down, Prowl's resting charge was much diminished, lower even than what he'd started with, and Megatron's frame greedily absorbed what was being built between them. He would always need more to overload, and sating a smaller partner before beginning was a good way to make the whole thing last longer. 

His hips rolled into Prowl, his spike was coated in a thick layer of lubricant, and he found himself greatly looking forward to the orns when this would be a regular event. He already enjoyed his time with Sunstreaker--adding Prowl to his conquests would just be sweeter. 

He couldn't _wait_ to see the look on Starscream's face. 

He imagined it as he roared with overload, driving hard and fast into the willing, pliant frame beneath him. He knew, even through the overload, that this was agreeable to his berthmate. The difference between the first time and this was amazing. Even if he didn't need Prowl to remain reasonably pleased with him, the results of taking some time and indulging the smaller grounder were well worth it. He didn't bother counting how many times he overloaded to sate his frame, only noting that once in the middle Prowl became a very active participant again until the Praxian howled his overload and sank into a dazed near-stasis from it.

When Megatron finally pulled out and flopped to the side, he found his berthmate shifting with the motion to curl against his chest with an absolutely contented field that was barely above recharging and headed there fast.

He froze with his arm in the air and cast an almost longing glance towards the door before looking back down at the Praxian. A moment of indecision, and then he lowered his arm to curl around Prowl's shoulders. The mech wasn't unpleasant, and he could do with some rest. 

He sent a comm off to Soundwave to have one of his cassettes come to the room with enough firepower to stun Prowl if he should attack, then curled around the smaller frame.

* * *

Megatron strolled through the halls of the capitol, very much looking forward to the summoned meeting. He had asked for heads of every major department and all those who had been close to him during the war, and most notably among those was Starscream. Officially, it was to discuss progress of the realm and hear any concerns that others wanted to bring up with him in a safe, public environment. They were held from time to time, and generally used to check up on how well he still controlled them. 

This one would hopefully be much more entertaining. He intended to announce the stable orbit and strength of his new creation. While it was suitable for the meeting anyway, he was really doing so to gauge Starscream's reaction and rub it in that he'd accomplished in one meeting what Starscream had failed to do in two vorns.

He knew from a few discrete inquiries with Soundwave--and plenty of checking in on the surveillance systems--that the seeker hadn't returned to see Prowl since that orn. Soundwave was even able to assure him that Starscream had not once checked on the security records for that cell. He obviously thought that no one would be interested, and his complete avoidance of both Megatron and the prison compound made the secret perfectly easy to keep. Megatron hoped he would be around to see when Starscream realized his entrance permissions to Prowl's cell had been revoked.

It was going to be an entertaining orn without question.

As he expected, he was neither first nor last to enter the conference room. Most arrived before, not wanting to irritate him by making him wait. Starscream, as per usual, was clearly going to be late just to irritate him. And, as per usual, about twenty kliks after the time he'd commanded, the seeker swept into the room with all the grandiose and importance of Primus himself. 

"My _apologies_ , oh mighty Lord Megatron," Starscream drawled as he made his way over to his place. "You know how hard it is to tear away from groundbreaking work. Actually, you probably don't. But I suppose it doesn't matter, so long as _some_ of us are working in the benefits of your great empire."

"Neither would you, given you've never had such work," Megatron retorted, even as he found himself less drawn to rising to the bait this time. "Soundwave, report."

Starscream visibly bristled but was silent as the host began to report in his normal, affectless drone about the goings-on of security matters around the planet. The other department heads followed after, each one reporting on the relatively dull matters that had taken up their orns. Finally it was Starscream's turn, and still miffed by Megatron's comment, he launched into a verbal rendition of all the _important_ things going on in R &D, focused even more than usual on his own accomplishments.

Megatron waited patiently, chin resting in his hand and looking as bored as possible as the seeker went on and on. Any other orn, Megatron would have been inclined to strangle him by now but this orn, he could wait. He had something much better than anger, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't keep the ghost of a smirk hidden. Starscream was even starting to notice his unusual lack of response, and it was making the seeker predictably uneasy.

Eventually, Starscream shut up and sat down and Megatron stood. He didn't need to demand attention. He received it simply by moving. "I wish to thank everyone for their hard work and reports, and now for the last item on the agenda. My creation has been confirmed to have entered a stable orbit and is strong for its age."

Starscream snorted. "If you think _that's_ news you need a defrag. Newsparks stabilize within a metacycle, what is Sunstreaker along now, five?"

Megatron smirked at him. "Yes, Sunstreaker is five metacycles along and began construction almost two metacycles ago. I am referring to my _new_ creation."

Starscream frowned, unable to resist looking up from his careful examination of his fingers, putting his hands back down on the table. " _What_ new creation?"

"The one Prowl agreed to carry after you rejected him," Megatron's grin became almost feral. "He was rather eager."

Even if Megatron's words hadn't caused every set of optics in the room to focus on Starscream, the _screech_ of claws sinking into metal and pulling across it would have drawn the rest. Starscream's hands clenched spasmodically and his wings became rigid with tension, mouth opening silently as he worked for something to say, but nothing came out. 

"You took two vorns with no success, and I didn't even need a single meeting," Megatron purred at his outraged seeker.

Starscream's focus narrowed and he shot to his pedes with a savage hiss, _murder_ in the dark, infuriated red of his optics. "How _dare_ you," he said, voice deep with rage, as the others began to shift uneasily. 

"You told me yourself that he would never kindle. It seems as if the correct statement was that he would never kindle _with you_ ," Megatron feigned disinterest in Starscream's rage even as he made a private note to keep an even closer watch on him in the future.

"You _knew_ how he felt, how _could_ you!" Starscream shrieked, and his wings canted back in what looked like genuine pain. Megatron heard the telltale whine of turbines kicking to life and felt the thrusters engage through the vibrations of the floor. 

"I asked him verbally, and again in a spark merge," Megatron countered, his own combat protocols clicking on in response to the valid and blatant threat Starscream presented. "On our next merge I asked what he felt about the kindling. To quote: Strange. Nice. It feels right."

"Shut up, _shut up!_ " Starscream screamed at him, taking two steps closer. The others around him scattered away, not wanting to be anywhere near the enraged seeker. "I swear if you aren't lying I'll see you in the scrap heap!"

Megatron's fusion cannon whirled to life as he raised it. "You'll go there first. You cut all rights to him when you claimed he would not kindle."

"I _saw_ his spark and _felt_ what he knows, that no consent can be given from a prison cell!" Starscream hissed, though he did stop. He looked around to the others, who were all gathered and staring, with the except of Soundwave, who remained by his leader's side, before turning back to Megatron, speaking loud and clear. "If you kindled with him, you raped him." 

"Ah, that," Megatron hummed. "You do realize that is only based on long gone Praxian laws? He is well aware that is no longer the law and his spark does not believe in it, only his processors. If that _is_ the law, then not a single Autobot is capable of giving consent of any kind, including only to interface. Are you willing to push that idea just to attack me?"

Starscream's fists clenched and unclenched, claws digging into his own palms, engines running hot and optics shining fiercely. The only sound in the room came from the ebbing and waning of his thrusters as they powered up and down, the seeker struggling between reason and insanity -- to retreat or to attack -- _life_ or death -- before the former finally won and his combat systems were pushed forcefully offline. The rage stayed undiminished, as did the pain, and he snarled at Megatron before turning on heel to stalk out of the room. "You _disgust_ me."

Megatron let him go and powered down his fusion cannon along with the combat protocols. "Does anyone else have anything to add?" he asked mildly as he looked around the room.

Silence answered him and he chuckled from deep within his chassis. "Very well, you are dismissed." He tilted his head towards Soundwave. ::See to it he is never out of surveillance range.::

::Understood,:: Soundwave responded. ::Lethal force: authorized?::

::If he tries to leave the system, or threatens to harm any life within this empire,:: Megatron said.

::Affirmative,:: Soundwave responded.

* * *

Starscream made his way through the halls of the prison compound, not entirely steady on his pedes and occasionally needing the wall to stay upright. It had taken flying himself to exhaustion and then a fair amount of high grade after even his wingmates couldn't deal with him anymore to get him here, making his way down to a door that he'd once seen more of than his own apartment. 

He stumbled a little upon reaching it, pressing his palm to the door pad. It chimed a negative at him and he frowned, swiping it again with the same results. :: _Soundwave._ ::

There was a pause and the chime changed to acceptance. The door slid open and Soundwave finally spoke. ::Starscream: requires Prowl's permission to progress further.::

::What? _Why?!_ :: Starscream demanded as he palmed it in the hopes that it would just open. 

::Starscream: hurt Prowl. Prowl: controls inner door now.:: Soundwave answered.

"Who is it?" Prowl's voice came over the small speaker.

Starscream hissed over the comms as he tried to say his designation, spat static, and then managed to choke, "It's _me._ " 

The door opened despite his difficulties, and Prowl was standing stiffly a pace in front of the berth. All around were still the many gifts Starscream had given, including Prowl's stormy look.

"Yes, Starscream?" Prowl asked in that monotone that he'd taken on towards the final moments of their last meaning. The lack of frame language was still there too.

Starscream took a few unsteady steps forward, staring at him. "I... how, _why?_ "

"How what? Why what?" Prowl asked patiently.

"How _could_ you?" Starscream asked, first feeling a wave of despair as he looked at his once-lover, but it was chased down by anger in just moments as images of Megatron _on top of_ Prowl flooded his processors, the color of red and near-white tinted his vision, and his voice dropped into a hiss. "Why _him_ and not me?" He took a step forward. "Am I not _good_ enough for you?" 

"You rejected me," Prowl told him flatly. "Megatron has sufficiently limited morals to find my out of date legal coding irrelevant."

"You _want_ to be with someone who doesn't care about your ability to choose?" Starscream snarled, the confusion making his processor feel jagged. 

"I want _out_. I want my t-cog. I want to drive. I want to socialize," Prowl said firmly. "If kindling with someone who does not care about my definition of consent and insists on only the current legal standard is what will make that happen the fastest, so be it. I told you I did not fault you. That was not enough for you. You rejected my efforts; two vorns and twisting my processor inside out was not enough for you to overcome law that hasn't been enforced since Praxus fell. I am what I am, Starscream. To the moment I deactivate I am a Praxian Enforcer, with all that means. I can't change any more than I did to make you feel better about the reality of my situation."

"I told you I would figure something out!" Starscream all but wailed. "I would have gotten you out! Why--why _Megatron?_ " The designation came out with static, broken. "What did he do that I didn't?"

"He didn't back out," Prowl answered calmly. "He accepted what I am and what I cannot change."

"That's all you needed," Starscream said, feeling sick. "Someone who ignored you. _How_ am I supposed to ignore when my--when my--when _you_ tell me you don't blame me...?! I'm supposed to just _keep going?_ "

"Yes. It is what I agreed to." Something resembling sadness reached Prowl's doorwings. "I do not understand how you can believe consent with one's jailer is possible. The inherent power dynamic, particularly when deactivation is the probable cost of refusal, makes any such consent legally suspect."

"Were ... were you just using me?" Starscream asked after a long moment. "All you needed was someone willing to spark you up so you could get a t-cog?"

Dark doorwings flicked in confusion and Prowl actually scowled faintly. "Megatron refused that option. I had to find _you_ acceptable. That rule only changed when he came to me after you left. I assumed it was to tell me the date of my execution. Instead he gave me the option to carry for another. He even allowed me to set the terms. He then agreed to my terms."

"So are you _happy_ , then, carrying his flightless spawn?" Starscream spat. "Got what you wanted in the end?"

Prowl scowled for real. "I am not happy. I am not pleased. I do not want creations. I have accepted my fate and am dealing with it as best I am able."

"I could have made it better for you," Starscream hissed, wings giving a sharp rattle. "Whatever happens to you now is your own doing."

"Yes, it will be," Prowl agreed. "Are you done with me now?"

Starscream stood silent for a long moment, glaring with all of his waning energy. "When you're nothing but his _whore_ remember the life I would have given you," he spat, and turned to escape the suffocating prison cell with too memories. 

His balance and equilibrium both protested to the sudden movement and one wing caught on the wall next to the door, sending him down hard to his knees.

"I already know what you took from me," Prowl said quietly as he watched Starscream claw his way to his pedes and scramble out.

The crash of two frames colliding was jarring in the otherwise silence, and Starscream screeched in wordless rage before the sound of his running pedefalls disappeared. Megatron came through the doorway, concern on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes. Why do you enjoy hurting Starscream so much?" Prowl asked blandly.

"Why?" Megatron asked, mildly surprised that _that_ was Prowl's first reaction. He hummed as he strolled in, giving the question some thought. Why _did_ he enjoy hurting Starscream so much? 

An image of the seeker's smug smirk came up in his processors, and Megatron felt his temper rise just from that. "He needs to be brought down from his self-imagined pedestal," he said.

Prowl simply inclined his helm in acceptance of the statement and sat down on the berth to relax onto his back among the pillows.

Megatron came to settle over him. "Did he upset you? I will have him banned from the premises." 

"He did not upset me. Being upset is an emotional reaction." Prowl responded as he unlocked his chest plates and readied himself for the merge.

"Very well," Megatron said, but he braced himself as he opened his frame up, ready to deal with whatever the spark would have for him. He leaned in and brought their chambers close, the leaders reaching out eagerly for each other. The first contact was a storm of _hurt-anger-rejected_ that was more what Megatron expected of the meeting.

He tried to soothe as much as possible, caressing, but it just wasn't what he'd been built for and found himself a bit lost when facing the pain. ~He didn't want you enough, he's gone now,~ he promised.

The spark curled against his and shivered until it calmed down, letting go of the distress that Starscream had generated in it and gradually relaxing into the merge and the pleasure it promised.


	8. An Orn Out

Megatron relaxed, content in the familiar pattern of three metacycles as Prowl snuggled against him after their interfacing for the orn. It had surprised him a little when he'd realized that Prowl might be a bit more than just a conquest. The mech was a good carrier, strong willed and forthright, yet not at all resistant to being dominated. It was a lovely combination that he knew he planned to use to carry again, possibly sooner rather than later.

To make it even better, Hook reported that like Sunstreaker, Prowl was likely to have a large sparkling, closer to Megatron in stature than its carrier. That meant construction wouldn't begin for Prowl for another three metacycles, though the newspark would reach awareness any orn now. It was something that Megatron's merges agreed with. The newspark was large, strong and as assertive as a non-sentient being could be. It was going to be a delightful brother to Maestro.

"I'd like to go out soon, before I'm too sparkling heavy to manage," Prowl's murmur only barely sounded awake, but Megatron knew better. Prowl might be relaxed and settled, but he would not speak if he was not aware of what he was saying.

"We can arrange that," Megatron said, rubbing Prowl's shoulder. "You will require some extra security, but it is doable. Where would you like to go?"

"The big racetrack," Prowl didn't hide the slight quiver of want the idea created along his frame. "To watch an orn's races."

Megatron nodded, gazing into the distance as he logged into the database to pull up the info he needed. He was honestly surprised the Praxian hadn't requested it sooner--from reviewing footage of the time spent with Starscream, Megatron had noticed a definite interest in _racing_ when they talked. "There is a major event coming up in a decaorn, I will have Soundwave secure an area for us. There will be guards, and you will submit to whatever measures he sees necessary for my safety," he warned.

"Agreed," Prowl said evenly, still relaxed and accepting even as another shiver of anticipation traveled through him. It was enough for Megatron to suspect the need to race was more coding than spark in origin. He'd heard the other Praxian was race-fixated too, and he was far more mellow than Prowl. "I will do whatever Soundwave or you ask of me."

"Good," Megatron rumbled, and he considered whether to take advantage of that shiver or not, hand straying over to Prowl's chest. "How is my newspark feeling?" he asked with a low purr.

"Strong," Prowl answered. "It is draining 3% more energy than a typical newspark of its age and proposed size should while presenting none of the warning readings I was charged to keep a watch out for."

"Excellent," Megatron said, and his finger traced up and down the center seam, questioning if Prowl was recovered enough from their last merge for another one. "I'd like to give it all the strength a creation of mine deserves."

Prowl rumbled in approval and unlocked his chest plates, more than willing for another merge. It was as close to eager as the processor-driven frame could manage. The spark sensed the sire of its creation and surged forward to meet Megatron's, pulling him in deep into itself in a full merge that took only a matter of moments to complete. 

~Hello, my carrier,~ Megatron crooned.

Prowl's spark trilled back, excited about more than the merge. ~He spoke just after the last merge.~

~He did?~ Megatron asked eagerly with a surge of excitement, opening his spark outward, searching. ~What did he say? Is he strong? What is his designation?~

~I am Krieger,~ a voice Megatron had never heard responded with a surge of energy to feel him out. It was strong, aggressive but not insane. It felt very much like himself. In the background Prowl's spark was a soft hum of pleasure-approval-happiness.

~Krieger,~ Megatron repeated with a pleased rumble. It was a strong name. ~Do you know who I am?~

~Megatron. Sire. Leader of Cybertron,~ the voice responded with some pride at knowing, and being associated with such a strong being.

~Yes,~ Megatron purred. ~And you are my creation, part of a new generation to inherit our world. You will be loved and cherished and brought up in my image, Krieger.~

~Because carrier's processor doesn't want me and you do,~ Krieger said, though he wasn't as sure. ~I have a brother?~

~You do, his designation is Maestro,~ Megatron said. ~Your carrier is helping to bring you into the world for me, because I can't do it on my own. I want you very much.~

The newspark pulsed with pleasure at that. ~What is Maesto like?~

~He is still young, like you, but he is already stubborn and creative,~ Megatron said. ~His spark is very bright and passionate.~

~Good,~ Krieger responded more to the pleasure of his sire than the actual information. ~Strong is good,~ he murmured as his awareness began to fade, the conversation a long one for him.

~He is wonderful, my carrier,~ Megatron said as his focus shifted back to Prowl's spark with a caressing stroke. The newspark's awareness had dimmed and both creators could feel him there, but only as a passive presence. ~You are bringing a strong life into this world.~

Prowl's spark flushed with pride at the praise it could feel was genuine and even stronger was a sense of happy-contentment that it was doing well in its function. It had little to say, it never did, but it was open and willing in the merges and this was no different as Megatron accepted the response and sank deeper. With both their focus on channeling the energy of the overload into their creation, it was both eternity and no time at all before their sparks began to separate.

Megatron relaxed down over him, covering and protecting the frame that was carrying something so precious to him. He knew the move was not lost on Prowl, either side of him, and both liked it. When he'd recovered and began to pay attention to the physical arousal that came as a reflex to being close to the carrier of his creation he felt as much as heard Prowl hum.

"I would like a different position today," Prowl said as he responded eagerly to the arousal in Megatron's field.

"Oh?" Megatron asked with a lazy smirk. "I suppose you are bored with being on your back?"

"Not bored. Having you against my back simply has more appeal today," Prowl answered.

Megatron's engines revved with immediate interest. "I'm happy to indulge my carrier," he purred, lifting up to give Prowl room to move. Prowl's rumbled back with anticipation and rolled to his front before settling on his forearms with his aft in the air and exposed valve glistening with lubricant.

"Hmm, now there's a lovely sight," Megatron said, pressing fingers to the rim as his other hand went down to his spike cover, retracting it and stroking. He was fully enjoying the Praxian's growing cravings for his spike. The reserve tank was undoubtedly full by now, but once protoform development began, every single drop from his frame would go towards building his creation. 

His fingers slipped in easily his spike pressurized quickly, and then he was gripping gray hips and lining their frames up. His spike went in easily, stretching the rim around its girth, but there was no pain from the carrier. Prowl moaned, shameless of his pleasure as he pressed into the thick spike spreading his valve walls open and lighting up sensors that had only grown more sensitive.

"You should always be carrying," Megatron chuckled. He had to hunch down to be able to thrust, even with Prowl's aft lifted up as high as he could. "It looks good on you."

"It is one of my plans," Prowl moaned, shuddering and quivering with the rush of pleasure. It had always come easy, but now he was primed for it and his overloads were that much more intense, even as he remained aware for more of them.

"To look good carrying?" Megatron asked with a grunt. His fingers wrapped around Prowl's hips, holding tightly and even lifting him into it.

"To carry as often as possible. Once a vorn, roughly," Prowl gasped out and surrendered all control to the large mech behind him.

Megatron's engines roared. _Victory_ , that his former enemy would now be a breeder for his new empire, and a far more productive one than any other. "I cannot wait," he all but growled, slamming forward. 

Prowl screamed, pleaded for more. The raw pleasure surging through him at the aggressive pounding and intense arousal in his mate's field was made all the more intense by the carrier protocols. His valve spasmed and crackled with electricity, and the approval twisted something deep inside his coding that still held him loyal to Praxus's laws. It still refused to lock onto anyone who'd harmed his city, but it was slowly accepting some of the ideas.

Megatron's overload was powerful, crackling, and Prowl was unable to do anything but hold on as the warlord grabbed him around his frame and pounded in. His sire protocols were running hot and primed from Sunstreaker, making it easy to lose himself over and over in the Praxian's oh-so-willing frame.

* * *

Megatron was enjoying Prowl's teek as they watched the racers going around the track. He'd cleared an entire section of the stadium out for them to watch, mostly for Prowl's safety, and only their guards were nearby--mostly for his safety, because he still couldn't entirely trust the Praxian. Though he had to admit it was an interesting few moments in the medical bay before Prowl managed to snap at Hook to get him in stasis already. Watching Prowl going from drone-calm to a crouched, hissing, clawed creature in the nanoklik it took him to realize that a bomb was to be planted inside him was fascinating in so many different ways. 

He'd had rather forgotten what carrier protocols did to mecha when they felt the newspark was threatened. Honestly, he was rather surprised how agitated he'd become watching the bomb being planted next to the spark supporting his creation. He'd nearly called it off before common sense prevailed. It was another moment he was grateful for Soundwave's telepathy. The host could tell that Prowl's reaction was on base carrier protocols and not because he feared for his life because of a plan.

Megatron could forgive such an unacceptable reaction when it came purely from the perspective of protecting his creation. It was actually a small bit of relief, knowing so clearly that Prowl would fight, run, do anything it took to protect the life growing inside him even without the strong emotional connection most carriers had. He drew his processors back to the present and glanced down at Prowl. The mech was scribbling numbers and designations on a simple datapad, all without looking as his attention was fixated on the racers. In a couple spots Megatron could see that the numbers had been crossed out and changed.

"What are you writing?" he asked in a low murmur, not wanting to distract the Praxian too much. 

"Odds," Prowl responded in a matching volume. "Since gambling is legal it will be something I excel at."

"Have you ever bet on racing before?" Megatron asked curiously.

"Yes. It was legal in Praxus to bet up to thirty credits on an event," Prowl answered, his gaze never leaving the racers. Despite the bland tone, his field and even his doorwings displayed how exciting it was for him to be here.

"Right now, are you practicing?" Megatron asked, looking back out at the track. Prowl shouldn't have credits to bet with, but maybe it was just the simple act of calculating the odds that got him excited.

"Yes," Prowl spared an almost surprised look for the warlord before being drawn back to the race. "I have nothing to bet with."

"Because you need to or because you enjoy it?"

"I enjoy using my processor, even if it is just theoretical," Prowl explained. "Though I have never been in a position where I had both energon and nothing to think about."

Megatron shrugged. Whatever made him happy. "Do you plan on this as your primary income? Or another form of gambling?"

"No. It may provide a few extra credits, but it is no way to earn a living," Prowl shook his helm sharply, even his doorwings flicking in refusal of the path. "It provides nothing to society. I expect my primary income to be from breeding contracts. Secondary from my job. This is more for entertainment since it will be impossible to fully utilize my processors for anything useful."

"I see," Megatron said, frowning at the mention of breeding contracts, but setting the matter aside for the time being. He leaned in to nuzzle Prowl's helm. "I am glad you are enjoying yourself, my carrier," he purred. He heard the familiar roar of jet engines above but didn't even bother looking, all of his focus on Prowl and the way the simple contact pulled Prowl's attention from the race and focused it on him. Without hesitation Prowl tipped his helm back a bit and let his engine rev in anticipation.

"I look forward to taking you to berth tonight," Megatron murmured near his audial. The roar in the sky above sounded like a scream before it faded. "Or..." His hand slipped onto Prowl's thigh, far too high for its meaning to be missed. "Maybe I'll take you to my private washracks."

Prowl shivered, and the timing left no question which of the two caused the reaction. "Hot oil and your spike," Prowl's engine purred in anticipation, eager for it. "Though your spike sounds good now."

Megatron genuinely hoped that the jet he'd heard was still in the vicinity as his engines roared and he wasted no time in hefting Prowl out of his seat and into his lap, still facing the races. "Really now," he half growled, mouth going to the Praxian's neck.

The smaller mech moaned without resistance, relaxing into the grip and intent with a surge of anticipation and the click of his valve cover opening.

"So eager," Megatron rumbled as his spike pressed upward into the slick folds. "You don't mind that mecha are watching?"

"Not this close to construction," Prowl moaned. His valve squeezed and rippled around Megatron's spike, denied anything more active by the position.

"Good," Megatron said, one arm wrapping around Prowl's chest to hold him captive as he rolled his hips up underneath him. He grunted quietly, optics searching the skies, but they were quiet. Oh well. He still had a squirming, eager Praxian on his lap, and he would only need a few kliks to spill in him. Not every pleasure had to come from tormenting the seeker.

Prowl leaned back, pressing closer to the spark that had sired his creation as he moaned, wanting and eager.

"That's it, that's it, take it," Megatron rumbled, thrusting up. The racers below were rocketing around the track in a tight pack, pushing for the lead, each one of them chasing down the win. Prowl moaned and Megatron wished he could see what the Praxian's optics were doing, but after a few more thrusts, it hardly mattered as he threw his helm back and roared. Prowl reacted as he had for more than a metacycle and took the energy surging freely between their frames to push himself the rest of the way to a gasping moan of pleasure as he overloaded as well.

Gradually Prowl sank against the sire of his creation, content to relax for the moment.

Megatron's engines idled contentedly as his systems cooled. "You are very enjoyable," he said.

Prowl hummed his acceptance as he relaxed on Megatron's lap, his valve still full of thick spike and it was quickly drawing his focus away from the racers once more. Megatron chuckled, pushing his hips up in small pulses, happy to indulge.

Megatron took Prowl right from the racetrack back to his private residence and his personal washrack, wasting no time getting him pushed under the hot cleanser, eager to see how he'd react. It was always good, but he'd never tried this when Prowl was already both sated and worked up. The Praxian did not disappoint as he moaned at the hot flow over his plating. Armor loosened, welcoming the cleanser to flow deeper into his frame. It was an erotic sight, to be sure, and one that quite easily made Megatron's engines rev. His own plating loose and vulnerable, he stood holding Prowl under the spray for several breems, warming and settling there and enjoying the strange high that came from being near one of his carriers. 

It had started slowly, the protective urges, feeling himself calmed when he was around them, and while Megatron was absolutely certain that he didn't want to feel this way all the time, it was nice as a change. He idly wondered if being around his creations when they were young would create this sensation, and found himself rather hoping it did. As sparklings at least, they didn't need to be exposed to his harsher nature.

Better for them to learn their undying loyalty when they were still young, and the rewards for it, than for them to fear him. 

"How is my creation this orn?" he asked, his hands splaying out over Prowl's abdomen. The fabrication chamber that would build Krieger's frame wasn't visible yet, but he could feel the increased heat and activity there as it began to be built.

"Strong, active and excited," Prowl murmured. His optics were off and his frame utterly lax in Megatron's embrace, trusting. "I can teek him when he's active now."

"Good," Megatron rumbled, and slid his hands up Prowl's sides and then around to his back, taking a step away to give himself room to massage the joints in the center strut. Prowl gave a low, contented moan and Megatron kept rubbing, pulling out a cloth in order to move beneath the gaps that were too small for his fingers. He was rewarded with more moans, even more loosening of armor and erratic flares of bliss in the carrier's field.

"You like that," Megatron murmured, and only expanded the area he was covering, paying particular attention to the central joint of the doorwings, and then spreading out from there. The armor was already shining and polished, but Megatron treated it as though just returned from battle, carefully rubbing down every span, pressing over tension cables, turning up the heat of the water to help the warmth spread core-deep into the Praxian frame. 

"Yes," Prowl moaned as he reached forward to brace against the wall, his entire frame going lax and trembling minutely as the pleasure spread deeper through his frame. Megatron purred, field reacting automatically to it, but he continued to rub the doorwings down, and even reached up to angle the shower right onto Prowl's back. The Praxian shuddered at the sensation, his moan shifting from bliss to early arousal.

Megatron fought back the moan as his hands slid down to the Praxian's hips and grabbed hold, pulling back as he crouched down and pushed forward to grind against his aft. "You know what that's going to do to me," he warned.

"I want it," Prowl nearly growled back as his valve cover slid open and he angled his hips to be just that much more inviting. "The reserve tank is being used."

Megatron _did_ growl and he let his spike cover release, the tip immediately slipping out as he began to really grind on Prowl's aft and valve, circling and rubbing. The heat and slickness easily pulled his spike from its housing and the valve rim was quick stretched open as Megatron extended into Prowl's frame. "Look _so_ fragging good like that," he grunted.

"Yes!" Prowl's frame arched sharply to press into that thick invasion, wanting on a base code level that stripped all thought that this could be wrong from him. "Fill me. Strengthen your creation."

"Oh I'll fill you," Megatron promised, using his grip on Prowl's frame to help bring him back into every pounding strike. "I'll fill you until you're dripping and your tanks are full and you can't even stand."

"YES!" Prowl keened. His valve spasmed in anticipation and he went lax, surrendering to Megatron's control even as he tried to be an active partner.

The warlord barely noticed, completely lost in the pounding rhythm and surrounding heat, the way the valve knew to ripple up and down the length of his spike because it made his overloads faster. It was bliss, pure bliss, to have Prowl bent over for him, and Megatron's roar shook the walls after one--two--three more thrusts before burying himself completely and feeling the transfluid rushing from his spike and into the eager, wanting frame.

"More," Prowl panted, squeezing down around Megatron's spike. "Don't stop."

"Until you can't stand," Megatron growled, hunched forward, and slammed back in.

Neither of them were particularly cognizant of how they'd ended up in the hot oil pool, but by the time Megatron could overload no more he was sitting in the pool with an nearly-unconscious Prowl facing him in his lap. His frame was panting, sated--exhausted--and he wrapped his arms around Prowl with a low, contented rumble. It certainly wouldn't do to be subject to this code all the time, but in the meantime, he wasn't about to resist it.


	9. A New Mech Comes

~What's that?~ Krieger nudged his carrier's attention towards a thin line of energy forming between him and somewhere far, far below.

~That is the path you will soon follow, to enter your frame. You will settle there, integrate into it and customize it before it emerges into the outside as a sparkling, a mecha,~ Prowl's spark responded with a gentle stroke of energy.

~Why does that make you so sad?~

~It will weaken the connection we have. By the time you emerge there will be little left. I am sad to lose you.~

~You won't lose me,~ Krieger insisted, basking happily in the warmth of his carrier's spark. ~I'll just be outside.~ A handful of images as the newspark understood the concept flashed by, mostly what he'd seen from Prowl's teachings, and he was excited to be there.

~Yes, you'll be outside,~ the spark didn't press the truth it knew. It knew entirely too well what would happen when the bond was stretched thin by distance and just how assertive the processors would be in not accepting anything to do with Krieger. ~You'll feel a tug from that strand soon. Follow it to your frame.~

~But...~ Krieger still thought his carrier sounded sad, even with his assurances. ~I don't want to make you sad. Maybe I can just stay in here and then you'll be happy? Why doesn't everyone stay?~

~If you stay, you'll eventually grow too large for me to support. I will extinguish and if you cannot integrate into my chamber fast enough you will as well. You must go because that is how it is done,~ Prowl's spark attempted to explain. ~You must live in your own functioning frame, as I must live mine.~

~I don't want you to extinguish!~ Krieger cried, and his simple understand of the world became narrowed to that option as he snuggled in close to Prowl. ~I'll go. And I'll try to make you happy.~

~You will. Live a full life. Be strong. Treat others with respect. And don't be surprised if a half brother or sixty eventually show up to meet you.~

~Maestro is my brother,~ Krieger chirped, proud of himself. ~He got outside first. Why will there be more?~

~Prowl's processors decided that kindling often is the road he wants to follow,~ the spark imitated a shrug. ~He's struggling to find a road to follow when his coding blocks the good ones. Creating is something it will allow.~

Krieger floated a little bit, trying to make sense of the words. ~Do you want to?~

~Not the way he plans, but I'd like to have more creations,~ the spark answered, caressing its creation with reassurance. ~My relationship with my frame is unusually complicated. You shouldn't have this issue. It's something that only sparked mecha deal with.~

~Okay,~ Krieger said, the tiny mote of light and energy shimmering with happiness to be alive as Prowl's energy surrounded him. His field rippled outward with a high, trill-like frequency and then he felt something new, something that wasn't his carrier. ~Do I go now?~ he asked.

~Yes,~ the carrier caressed him, encouraging him to follow the tug. ~That is your frame, your home for as long as you function.~

~You'll be there too?~

~No, little one. Your sire and his mate will raise you, be there for you and Maestro,~ the spark said sadly. ~I will not be around.~

~But I love you!~ Krieger protested. The pull was getting harder to ignore. ~You have to be there or I won't go!~

~You can't keep everything you love, little one. Many times existence will demand you let go. I'm sorry you must learn this lesson so early,~ Prowl's spark told him patiently, full of love and regret. ~This is how things will be.~

~But I love you,~ Krieger repeated, not understanding.

~I'm sorry little one. I love you as well. I would not leave you if I had a choice.~ The spark wished it could hide its pain from its creation, but it knew it couldn't.

~I'll look for you when I'm strong,~ Krieger promised, and then slipped away, following the path that led him to a new chamber, one that was empty and cold. He could still feel his carrier through his spark, but the surrounding warmth, the love and comfort, was gone. Slowly he settled into his chamber, focusing on learning about his new home and what it meant to have a frame of his own.

* * *

Megatron sat on the edge of the berth, rubbing his helm and trying to stave off the growing processor ache. Sunstreaker had gone through the same phase and he'd genuinely hoped it to be something limited to warrior sparks and fighting frames, but apparently that was not the case. The temperature in the room was low enough to be uncomfortable and he desperately longed for the orns when Prowl had been eager to slip into his hot oil pool and ride himself to exhaustion on his spike. 

No longer.

Now Prowl's frame was so distorted and distended by the sparkling inside him that he could barely move on his own. He could, at best, lift up a datapad to read, so long as it was placed exactly where his hand fell when stretched out. The rest of him was something of a balloon that he was in no way prepared to move.

Despite that, Prowl wanted to interface even more than before to gain the valuable materials Megatron provided. This, in turn, forced Megatron to consume far more minerals than he liked. During the thankfully short period where both Prowl and Sunstreaker were frame-building Megatron had to eat mineral wafers just to have a chance at keeping up, and even then he could see in the readouts and feel it in his frame just how much the nanite production took from him. At this point he understood fully why sires were needed for this. For a carrier to provide all that material themselves would cripple most frames. It was difficult enough with both of them. Hook made it clear that Sunstreaker would need the carrier supplements for at least a metacycle after separation to get him back in shape. Prowl would need even longer.

"What _are_ you waiting for?" Prowl's voice somehow managed to be a growl and flat at the same time.

"Just taking a short break..." Megatron said through gritted denta. "Why don't you get yourself however you want me to take you?"

"You know I can't move myself." Prowl really did snarl that time. "You have to move me and I want to be rolled over."

Megatron bit back a groan, but just the image of Prowl prostrate on his front, legs spread, made his spike cover unlock. "All right, all right," he said, and forced his weary frame to turn around. He was glad his carrier was so much smaller than him. "All right, now, just..." He put his hands carefully under Prowl's frame and tried to roll him over. Even with the carrier's help, such as Prowl could give, it was an effort.

When the distended frame settled with a low groan Prowl took a moment, but soon Megatron was rewarded for the effort with a visual that never failed to rouse him. Prowl's slick valve, exposed and dripping lubricant and a bit of transfluid, just begging for Megatron to fill it. Megatron chuckled and pressed his fingers to the rim. "There, can't be all _that_ bad," he said, teasing.

Prowl tried to press back but only managed an odd wobble as he moaned in anticipation.

Megatron was half inclined to keep fingering him for the snaps and snarls he'd gotten over the last several orns, but it wasn't worth the effort it would take to fight against his own need to _fill_ , and so he pressed forward, sinking into the hot frame. Prowl almost always felt like he was overheating now, and the charge from interfacing only ever served to make it worse. As soon as they were done, Megatron would be fetching coolant and cooling gel. They'd both need it.

As worn out as he felt, Megatron couldn't help but be amazed at how readily he revved up at the offer of his carrier's valve. It wasn't even pleasure at this point. The overload was an intense as it always was, at least what he could recall of them, but the buildup didn't feel nearly as good as it once had. This was the part of the cycle he decided he didn't like, being caught in the coding's grip and fully aware it was in his best interest not to fight it.

He didn't like being controlled by _anything_ , not even his own code, but at least he knew this was for a good cause. He could even put up with the Praxian's ill-tempered snarking for a good cause. Though in the moments he wasn't faced with it, he had to admit that he'd have a far worse temperament if he'd been in Prowl's state. At least the Praxian wasn't partial to hitting or kicking at him, and didn't have a fully mobile twin that would really rather rip his spark out than let him in the room.

Yes, he decided as he rocked to the sound of Prowl's shameless moaning, overall things were not nearly as bad as they could be. 

Collapsing over him on the berth had become a familiar position, one that pleased both for the protection and security that it offered the growing sparkling. Megatron nuzzled against Prowl's neck. "And what would please the carrier of my creation now?" he asked in a low rumble.

"Coolant, energon and more transfluid," Prowl answered lazily, momentarily sated enough to think beyond _spike me now!_

"Let's start with the coolant and energon," Megatron said, rolling his optics as he hefted himself up and off the berth to go collect them. "You can't have all three at once."

"And you need the second to produce the third," Prowl said back as he settled a bit while his systems reset. "I'm looking forward to when Krieger is out."

"Why?" Megatron asked out of idle curiosity as he filled two cubes, glancing over. That was contrary to what he'd heard from almost every other carrier. "Other than not having the maneuverability of a boat."

"Do I need another reason?" Prowl tried to look at him. "It's shut down all but basic processor functions. I have just enough awareness to want to do something, and not enough capacity to even think for entertainment anymore."

"At least I can be certain that you won't suddenly be coming to me for this creation back," Megatron said as he returned with the cubes. They were set aside so he could get the Praxian ungracefully turned onto his back again, pulled up so he could be partially sitting, and then settled in with a cube. He chuckled and rested a hand on Prowl's distended frame. "No one would ever doubt it's mine."

"I rather doubt anyone would question if Maestro is yours either, if you were half as attentive to Sunstreaker's demands as mine," Prowl said before focusing on his energon. "You actually wondered if I would want to raise it?"

"No, you made that perfectly clear, but it's a relief to know after seeing how possessive other carriers have been," Megatron said, smirking a little at the memory of how snarly Sunstreaker had become when he'd been unable to move from the sheer girth of the gladiator's creation. 

"True. I suspect most, if not all of them, have a full set of creator protocols. I was unquestionably built to be a breeder. To build the sparkling and give it to another to raise so I can create again," Prowl said between hungry drinks.

"How wonderful that you've managed to find your purpose," Megatron purred, rubbing coolant onto Prowl's abdomen and working his way up.

Prowl gave a low groan of relief at the coolant. "Perhaps we won't find out why I was never used as such by Praxus," he said with a sigh as he relaxed a bit.

"I imagine so," Megatron said, and shifted over to settle himself between Prowl's thighs as he continued to massage. "You know, maybe we _can_ do all three at once."

"Yes..." Prowl didn't hold the moan back as he spread his legs as far as he could, making his willingness as clear as he could when he knew he'd have to be moved some for Megatron to sink into him.

Coolant-slick hands carefully lifted and positioned until Prowl's aft was against Megatron's thighs and the warlord could just lean forward, bending him backwards, to sink inside. " _There_ we go," he groaned, hands gripping Prowl's thighs.

"Nice, full," Prowl moaned and squeezed down on the welcome spike. Drinking took a bit of shimmying to get a pillow under his helm, but he was soon content to sip energon, enjoy the pleasure of having his coding indulged and the pleasure of a coolant gel rub all at once.

Megatron was pleased by the cooperation, the willingness, the knowledge that soon Maestro's brother would be in this world and his heir would have someone to support him always.

* * *

"Laserbeak!" Prowl called out to the symbiot in charge of tending to him with Megatron gone. For the first time excitement crept into his voice rather than irritation. The avian symbiot squawked his acknowledgement. "Summon Megatron and First Aid. Separation has begun."

Laserbeak chirped an affirmative, a tone he knew Prowl understood at this point and took flight, heading out through the small shaft in the ceiling that was far too small for Prowl but served as the symbiots' entrance, already comming both of them but physically going to ensure their receipt of the message. Both mechs to be summoned and all others that could possibly be called on were expecting the notice. At three orns beyond ten metacycles, it was time for the tank-former he was constructing to emerge. Krieger would be build much like his sire and brother, though he would likely be slightly smaller than Maestro.

Ravage jumped up from the floor and came near Prowl's face, the purr requesting to know if Prowl needed anything. An absent hand found her ears and stroked, a motion that sent tingles of pleasure through the symbiot's neural network. It deepened the purr, but also created curiosity in the felenoid about just what about the pre-programmed mecha made them like her. Red Alert made sense in a way, but Prowl had no reason to consider her a close ally.

"Energon, while I can still drink it," Prowl told her.

She jumped away to go retrieve a cube of the highly-concentrated energon that Prowl was consuming now to help keep up with the demands of his frame and jumped up near his hand with it, nudging it against his fingers with her nose. Another pat over her head and then Prowl took the cube. 

Laserbeak came back in a few moments before the door opened to let First Aid and then Megatron in, the warlord taking his place near the far side of the room, having to stoop a little in order to fit but not sitting. 

"It's about time," First Aid said with a smile.

"Agreed," Prowl replied between sips and offered his wrist for First Aid to plug into to keep tabs on the notices.

The medic accepted, uploading a direct link into all active routines that would be used for the separation. "Everything is in working order," he reported for both sire and carrier, and then reminded, "This could take quite some time." They'd talked about it before--Krieger was pushing the limits for what Prowl's frame was able to carry. First Aid had even counseled them to lessen Megatron's influence on the frame, but so far, the size had presented no risk. It did mean, however, that separation was going to be a long and uncomfortable process.

"I am ready," Prowl responded, acknowledgment and promise all in one.

"Understood," Megatron added gruffly, not liking that he could do nothing but watch but resigned to it. He knew from Sunstreaker's time that his best choice was to stay back, stay calm and in this case be ready to take a slimy, squirming sparkling as soon as it separated.

He'd almost asked Sunstreaker to come along in order to take the sparkling, or even Soundwave, or, pit, even _Sideswipe_ ... but Soundwave upon sensing the idea had quickly outlined to him why all three were bad ideas, or why anyone other than Megatron himself should not be permitted to that post. 

Well, all he would really have to do would be to get the sparkling back to his residence and into Sunstreaker's care. That couldn't be so bad. 

"How do you feel, my carrier?" Megatron asked. 

"Cooler than in metacycles. The separation transformations are unsettling," Prowl answered. "Impatient."

"Perfectly normal, however," First Aid was quick to add. "It is likely to become more unsettling as you become more vulnerable."

"I know," Prowl replied with something that might have been a huff. "I have survived far worse."

Megatron purred in appreciation of that fact. "And how is Krieger doing? Is he excited?" he asked, with an excited rumble from his engines. He was looking forward to meeting this sparkling, one that already felt so strong and would undoubtedly be a powerful mecha.

"He is strong, steady, and at least as eager to be out as I am to have him out," Prowl reported after teeking the sparkling's field. "He is also strong enough to force his way out if he tries hard enough," he added as a small warning to First Aid.

"Understood, we will do what we can to keep that from happening," the medic said as he pulled out a chip and inserted it into a dataport in Prowl's arm. 

"What happens if he tries to fight his way out?" Megatron asked. 

First Aid didn't even look at him. "He will damage Prowl. The severity depends on _when_ he decides to start fighting. If he were to start now, he would quite likely kill him in the process. If it is when he sees first light, which is when most sparklings begin to struggle in earnest, I will need Ratchet but we should be able to save Prowl. If it's towards the end, such as with Maestro, it is something I can repair."

"Krieger is calm for the time being," Prowl added. "He won't deactivate me."

"I agree," First Aid said, pressing his hand to Prowl's abdomen and flaring his field forward. "He teeks quite calm, calmer than most, in fact." 

"My creation is brave," Megatron rumbled.

"Knowledge is power, and he understands what is happening in detail. Both his duties and mine," Prowl attempted to relax in his pillow nest and tune out the discomfort of shifting internals. "He knows there is no reason to fear, and no reason to expend energy early."

"And since we're going to be here for a while," First Aid hummed, and settled down on the side of the berth, pulling out a datapad. 

"What is that?" Megatron asked, frowning. 

"Some reading," First Aid said. "We are going to be here for quite some time. I am completely capable of monitoring the progress but since it will likely be most of an orn before true separation..." He glanced up. "You might want to fetch some energon, and make yourself comfortable."

"Ah. Even longer than Sunstreaker," Megatron nodded his comprehension, only to hesitate.

"Go ahead," Prowl told him. "Better to fetch your entertainment now than later."

The warlord gave another nod and slipped out.

"How _are_ you doing?" First Aid asked, forgetting that the symbiots were there, they were being recorded and Prowl wasn't partial to lying in the first place.

"I ache, I can't move, 73% of my processing capacity is shut down and I've been miserable for metacycles from it," Prowl said simply. "I'll survive. In half a decaorn I should be close to spec again, and then I've been promised a t-cog and the right to race. It will be much better in a decaorn."

"I mean ... emotionally, personally," First Aid said with a smile. "I know you haven't been and probably won't be my patient, but I want you to know that for this orn, I am here for you in the fullest sense possible."

Prowl's field flickered with a bit of confusion before it settled. "Ah. I understand, I believe. I will remember should I need assistance."

"That is all I ask," First Aid said, reaching up to squeeze Prowl's hand. "I know you have spent much time alone, and may have felt trapped by circumstance, as did many." 

Prowl did his best to look at First Aid and absently wondered if the mech had even read his official psych and medical files. "I've made it through worse than this, First Aid. I will seek help if I need it."

First Aid just smiled and nodded and a few kliks later, Megatron returned and settled in, and then the waiting began. They could all hear the periodic shifts inside Prowl and the occasional grunts it dragged from the carrier. As joors passed outer armor began to split and fold away and First Aid hovered over the opening, ready to stop Krieger from forcing his way out early while he cooed general reassurance to Prowl that all was going well.

Megatron even came over to hover and watch as some of the middle layers began to part, engines rumbling with anticipation and pleasure. This separation was so far going much smoother than Sunstreaker's had, and he was pleased with his newest creation for being so patient. 

"It shouldn't be much longer," First Aid said. "This is going much smoother than I had anticipated."

"He knows what to expect and what to do," Prowl gasped as something inside him broke loose. "I prepared him as well as I could."

"Even so, it is highly unusual behavior for sparklings to wait so well during separation," First Aid said, scanning and nodding. "You have an incredibly unique creation." 

"Yes," Megatron rumbled. "I do."

A sharp and quite loud click came from inside Prowl's frame and a large hand for a sparkling reached out.

"Ah, hello," First Aid said warmly as everything was subspaced and he reached in. "There is not enough space for you yet," he said, looking down into Prowl's frame. 

A displeased chirr reached all three adults but the hand waited patiently. 

Another sharp creak and a shift of plating that wasn't intended to move more than a few times in a mech's life pulled back and First Aid quickly reached in, scooping up the sparkling that was nearly twice the size of a newly separated Praxian. A quick scan and then he turned to Prowl, holding Krieger out.

The mech actually hissed. "It's _Megatron's_ , not mine."

"He--" First Aid said, startled and pulling the sparkling quickly back from the violent display, but then Megatron was there, easily scooping the sparkling from the medic's arms. 

"Hello Krieger," he rumbled.

"Hello Sire," the sparkling chirped back, even as it gave a sad look at the prone, distended and obscenely unarmored frame of its carrier.

Megatron quickly covered the sparkling's head with his hand and turned away. "See to Prowl, and update me on his status," he ordered, and then left. 

"I..." First Aid said, looking after them, shocked, before he turned back to his work in silence and tried to conceal just how disturbing that scene had been for him. Prowl let him work in silence. 


	10. A Visit with a Friend

Prowl made his way though Kaon to Soundwave's home where Red Alert lived, never unaware of his tail, but also not bothered by it. He had expected the constant surveillance after moving into a private life and getting his t-cog installed, and knew that there was never a moment he wasn't being observed, even in the privacy of his own apartment. It didn't bother him. He could drive again. 

After recovering from Krieger's carry and separation, Megatron had kept his word and found a low-level data entry and analysis position for him in the fledgling stock market. The work was dull, far below his abilities, but it was much better than he'd expected. At least it was in his field to some extent. He had his own apartment as well; small, little more than a room large enough for a berth and without even a washrack in the building, but it was his, and he was free to live as he wanted within the confines of his coding. It wasn't an existence he enjoyed, but it was easy enough to lose himself in a routine. Work, drive, visit a cheap public washrack, return to his berth to recharge. When there were races or sport-fights, which were more orns than not, he gave up part of his driving time to watch them and settle in to making odds. Within the decaorn he expected he would have enough information to begin betting on events and gathering the credits needed to rent a far nicer apartment.

He was definitely looking forward to that.

He pulled up to the complex that was both the security center for Kaon and Soundwave's home and pinged for admittance.

He heard the click of multiple cameras focusing in on him and knew that those would be the decoys; the real cameras would be better hidden, and much quieter. After a moment, Red Alert's voice came from a small speaker. 

"Step through the entrance, lift your hands over your helm, and wait," he said. The door opened, showing a small, closed off entryway. 

Prowl complied, and stood motionless until the second door opened and he saw Red Alert waiting for him, but before he could get any further, there was a symbiot in his arms and another perched on his shoulder. 

"They've been very excited to see you--when they aren't trailing you, anyway," Red Alert said.

"It must be a nice change, to trail someone who doesn't object to their presence," Prowl said as he rubbed Ravage's ear and stroked Laserbeak's helm more gently. "How is Secureza doing?"

"He's good," Red Alert said brightly. "He is a little strange, but I guess that isn't much surprise..." He trailed off. "He's with Soundwave. I thought you probably wouldn't want a sparkling about."

"Thank you. I'm here to see you," Prowl managed a small smile and nudged Ravage to get down so he could walk forward. "How are you doing?"

Red Alert thought about his answer for several steps. "I think I'm well," he said. "Glitching ... comes and goes. Comes more than goes now. Many things are dangerous for a sparkling." 

Laserbeak squawked in what sounded like irritated agreement. 

"The cassettes help me," Red Alert said with a rueful smile.

"It's good you've managed to bond with Secureza enough to care for his safety," Prowl said. "I'm glad you trust the cassettes enough to let them help too."

"I wasn't sure I'd be able to," Red Alert admitted as they walked across the courtyard. "How are you? I wish I hadn't been in stasis for everything that happened. Do you want to talk about Krieger?"

Prowl opened his mouth to ask why, only to realize that it was a poor choice of response. "Not particularly. My creator protocols were untouched by the war or circumstances. There is nothing there for him."

Red Alert nodded, unfazed and unsurprised by the answer. "So you are still functioning within the parameters of your coding," he said, and sounded almost relieved. "I was worried that a kindle-biased medic might have pressed or even forced you to accept standard creator parameters. Soundwave assured me nothing of the sort happened, but you can never be too sure."

"It did not, though I am sure that First Aid does not want me to call on him again," Prowl said easily. "My rejection of Krieger disturbed him greatly."

"Kindleds are strange like that," Red Alert hummed as they reached another set of doors. 

"Agreed," Prowl said and waited while Red Alert entered a set of codes, scanned his palm, and then inserted a hardline into the pad. "This is where I recharge," Red Alert explained as they entered. 

Prowl looked around to see a simple, functional room with all a mecha's basic needs provided. It was bright, with little decoration but there was an elegance to the simplicity that set it apart from a standard-issue apartment like he had. Red Alert had designed this space to his tastes.

"Soundwave is treating you well," Prowl commented with approval as they entered, Ravage still at their side but Laserbeak taking off to duties unknown. "Is he still courting you?"

"Ah, in a sense," Red Alert said. "As more of a life companion. I don't think I will carry again, and he knows that." 

Prowl hummed at they sat on the berth and offered his wrist port. "He is a good match for you in many ways."

Red Alert accepted it with a low, pleased hum. ~And you, are you ... being courted? Has Megatron made any indication? What of Starscream?~

The sharp surge of pain-hate-loss at the seeker's designation shattered what good mood there was.

~No. I expect what attention I receive from now on will be for service contracts,~ Prowl answered with a stiffness that didn't take long to fade. ~Being courted by an outsider is more trouble than it is worth.~

~I'm ... sorry,~ Red Alert said, confusion and hurt for his friend flickering through his field. ~I heard that something happened, but... No one knew for sure, or they wouldn't tell me. I'd hoped he would be better to you.~

Instead of saying anything, Prowl simply offered his memory of his final two encounters with Starscream.

~Oh, my darling,~ Red Alert said when it was over, touching their helms together and bring his palm flush with Prowl's. ~How could he have so completely misunderstood you?~

~I don't know. I don't understand how he could believe _any_ prisoner could legally consent to his keeper.~ Prowl shivered into the contact, openly grateful for it and for Ravage's pressing close to him. ~I don't expect I will never understand.~

~Starscream was always good at deluding himself to make the world rosier,~ Red Alert said, then, ~At least he's gone now,~ but he didn't sound completely certain, and played back for Prowl the _loss_ he'd felt in his friend's field.

~He was nice,~ Prowl supplied in response. ~We are all capable of deluding ourselves when it is in our best interests. If our creation was not fatally glitched, it could have been a mecha to be proud of.~

~Indeed,~ Red Alert said with a smile, and thankfully didn't comment on the use of _our_ instead of _his_. ~So what are these service contracts you mentioned?~

~Breeding contracts. I'll carry for whoever pays and is willing to sign a contract on my terms. There are few enough carriers that my glitch is unlikely to put many off,~ Prowl explained.

~That's a very long time to wait for any kind of decent attention,~ Red Alert said. ~You'll spend most of your life alone if you only wait for contracts. I don't like the idea of you without some kind of companionship.~

Prowl paused briefly before things clicked into place. ~Not with one contract a vorn.~

~A ... vorn,~ Red Alert said, frowning. ~You mean a--Prowl. _Prowl_. No.~

~Why not?~ Prowl asked, calm and steady in the face of both objection and sharing that he was well aware of the end result of such a plan.

~Because there are better ways,~ Red Alert said angrily. ~There's no reason to drag it out like that!~

~Not with my coding, Red Alert,~ Prowl said gently. ~I don't own my spark or my frame. You know that. This is the first time my compliance coding hasn't brought me up short for thinking of ways to end myself. I was designed to be a breeder. I know that without question now. The coding will let me be bred to deactivation.~

~ _I'll_ do it,~ Red Alert said. ~It won't hurt at all.~

Thanks swept forward before coding as strong as anything Red Alert knew slammed into place and _Prowl_ was pulled back, completely out of the connection before it was snapped shut.

Prowl gasped, his entire frame trembling in the fallout of wanting to agree to what he was not allowed to do.

Red Alert emitted a string of curses reduced to binary. "I will," he promised. "I'll find a way so you don't know it's coming."

"Don't," Prowl gasped out, his frame stilling. Despite the glyph, Red alert was too familiar with his friend and coding to not recognize compliance coding in action. Next to them both Ravage pressed closed and pinged Soundwave that he might be needed. That some kind of coding fight might be going on.

Red Alert's optics brightened and narrowed. The hardline still refused to connect, and there was no way Prowl would have ever denied him even the weakest firewall. It wasn't Prowl talking. Red Alert could lie to the code and ignore what it commanded. "I won't," he said.

Nearly a half klik went by before the hardline unlocked and Prowl, badly shaken by one of the more savage attacks of his compliance coding in some time was openly visible behind it. ~Okay?~ he focused on his friend, wanting to be sure nothing bad had happened to Red Alert while he wasn't in control.

~Fine, scanning,~ Red Alert said shortly. He had every security protocol and system scouring his own processors for any trace of virus or malware that could have been sent over in the few nanokliks that the hardline had been fully open to a subroutine not of Prowl's control. ~Preliminary results negative. And you?~

~Shaken and unsettled but undamaged,~ Prowl responded. ~It hasn't struck me that hard in a very long time.~

Red Alert nodded in understanding and reached up to caress Prowl's face, saying what he could through his frame and field in a way that wouldn't trigger the coding. His other hand moved to settle over Prowl's spark and his field pressed forward to touch the chamber. His optics stayed locked on Prowl's, determination shining in his gaze. He had a moment of that before something else hit him even harder. Processors and spark weren't linked anymore. He could feel it with his field that close to Prowl's spark and the hardline open.

Prowl leaned into the contact, his optics dimming in relief and thanks as he managed to settle the rest of the way and the compliance coding sank back into its box. ~Thank you, love. Don't risk yourself, please. I couldn't take losing you too.~

~I want what is best for you,~ Red Alert said sadly, and beneath the words was a hushed, barely distinguishable, _What have you done?_

Prowl nuzzled him affectionately, but it was emotionally flat, the fact a memory of what the correct response was. ~I blocked spark from processors. I couldn't take the hurt.~ A tiny flicker of memory of Starscream rejecting his spark came with the statement.

~...May I?~ Red Alert asked, brushing his fingers along the center seam of Prowl's chest. His own split in offering, the first to bare himself and reveal vulnerability. 

Prowl's armor split in reply, without hesitation in spark or processors. Red Alert was trusted. Far more trusted than any other since the loss of Praxus. ~Yes. Hear it from that side as well.~

Red Alert x-vented, nodded, and they spiraled their crystals open. Red Alert dropped the hardline connection, wanting to focus solely on their sparks, and even when the merge was nothing more than the first leaders tying together, he could _feel_ how glad Prowl's spark was to have him here. ~Did you want this?~ he asked.

~Being barred from the outside? No,~ the spark answered with a shiver and greedy need for contact. ~Processors can't take it when I hurt too much. The frame will preserve itself before it preserves me.~

~I'm ... so sorry,~ Red Alert said with a low moan for the pain that had created this split in his dearest friend. ~But it means the processor can't hear. I'll end it for you, I'll find a way.~

The spark caressed him gently, warm but confused at the offer. ~Why? What does it have planned that is so bad?~

Red Alert flickered in confusion, then remembered, and could have kicked himself. ~He ... plans to breed both of you into deactivation,~ he said. ~Once per vorn...~ He gave Prowl his memory, his offer, the compliance coding's resistance, Prowl's request. The other spark took some time to grapple with it, with the exhausting prospect of carrying every vorn, even if it wasn't a sparkling as large as Krieger.

~How many would it take, to do this?~ Prowl's spark asked shakily.

~I don't know,~ Red Alert said miserably. ~Not my specialty, insane thing to do anyway. Hundred? Thousand?~

~But how many will produce even fifty creations?~ the spark was still mulling it over. ~It seems like a better purpose and end than anything else the processors thought of since we lost ... lost....~ the voice twisted into the momentary surge of pain that was the loss of Praxus for it.

~Likely not many,~ Red Alert said slowly, comforting what little he could. ~I don't know of any other carriers who would prefer to give their creations up, other than us. It would be rare, no matter what.~

~I know the processors never believed we would be allowed into law enforcement or a tactical position of any value,~ the spark hesitated. ~It will never be useful again. At least this would be useful.~

~It will be slow,~ Red Alert said sadly, and pressed forward the offer again.

The spark's intent wavered, torn between wanting to have creations and passing on its energy that came with exhaustion and pain, and a quick end that it had agreed to attempt more than once only to have coding stop it. It didn't want to extinguish, it really didn't, but even more it didn't want to extinguish having given nothing to the future.

~Maybe ... ask in a few more vorns?~ it suggested. ~When the damage starts to show.~

~I will,~ Red Alert promised, caressing. ~I will find a way to stop the coding from harming me. I want to see you often, no matter what. You won't have to be alone.~

~I don't want to be alone. I've missed you. _We've_ missed you,~ the spark embraced Red Alert's with all the affection, thanks and devotion it had. ~How are _you_ doing?~

~I am well, I am truly well,~ Red Alert said, and opened his spark up for Prowl to see what his life was like and how he was faring. The spark explored, delighted for his friend and that he was content, even happy in moments. In many ways, it was the most either dared hope for the other after the war had begun and their carefully crafted functions had been torn away.

~Very happy for you,~ it murmured as the energy began to ripple in surges that they could no longer ignore. ~Maybe ... Soundwave might....~ the overload stole the last of the idea from Red Alert's awareness and then he was alone in his frame as their chambers retracted and armor closed.

Red Alert moaned softly as the last of the shivers faded from his frame, and he knew there was no point in asking what the spark had been trying to say. Not right now. He wrapped his arms around Prowl and pulled him tight. "You're safe from me," he murmured, and groaned when he felt the charge still running through Prowl's frame despite efforts to shunt it away. "You don't even overload as one," he realized.

"No, we don't. It turns out that's a boon for the newspark, even if it's hard on me," Prowl answered. He was willing to demand attention from those he didn't care about, but his friend ... no, that wasn't something he was willing to bring up.

Red Alert touched their fingertips together and felt a small shock from the contact. "Is ... are you uncomfortable?" he murmured, fingering the hardline with his other hand.

Prowl's gaze was drawn to it, and he knew he wanted it, but he still didn't feel right. "Only for another klik or two. My tac-net is very energy hungry when allowed."

Red Alert nodded with some relief in his field and pulled Prowl down with him onto the berth, their arms going around each other. Ravage curled between them and the door, and as Prowl's charge was gradually pulled into his tac-net, settled into recharge.


	11. Contract Negotiations

Prowl stood, waiting, inside his apartment and facing the door. He had a single contract in the center of the table to his right, two cubes of energon set out, and he unlocked the door when it chimed. 

"Barricade, come in." 

The Decepticon Praxian walked through the door, looking around with the air of a mech who was expecting a trap as he examined the room barely large enough for the single berth and round, one-mech table in it. How Prowl managed as many shelves as he did was beyond him, but the painting of the long-gone Helix Garden that took up the bulk of the front wall transfixed him for a long moment. 

"Came about your ... offer," he grunted, half surprised that Prowl had allowed him the time.

Prowl canted his doorwings in acknowledgment and motioned to the table and its two chairs. "I have the basic contract ready."

Barricade sat uneasily. "Right, contract," he said, and pushed at it with a single finger. "So ... what do you need to know from me?"

"Have you entered a personal service contract before?" Prowl asked evenly when he sat. "Read it."

"No," Barricade said with a scowl as he picked the datapad up and started reading. Prowl waited, mentally tracking where Barricade would be in the document as he did. 

The first terms outlined were his fee for carrying, which was a simple flat charge per sparkling. Next, the sire would pay for all basic costs of living for the duration of the carry and his recovery, as well as any medical expenses incurred, and it was to a standard noticeably higher than what Prowl currently lived at. The contract also outlined the same schedule for spark and frame influence that Megatron had been held to, with the addition that the sire must never damage the carrier and must always physically pleasure him.

Last, and one of the most important to Prowl, was the agreement that Prowl never be expected to contribute to the creation's life once it separated from his frame. 

Barricade looked up when he was finished. "So, looks mostly good," he said.

"What do you wish to negotiate on?" Prowl asked calmly.

"Frame," Barricade said. "I don't want to influence the frame. Just the spark. I'll still..." He trailed off and made a sort of thrusting motion with his hand. "And I'll pay for extra supplements, I know you'll need a lot."

Prowl cocked his doorwings, the curiosity at the request surprising enough that it showed in his frame. "Why do you wish a lack of influence in the frame?"

"My frame..." Barricade trailed off a little. "I was made cheap. I wasn't meant to hold up like your rank was. You're higher quality, all the way through."

Prowl twitched his doorwings in understanding. "An acceptable modification then," he said and took the datapad to make the change before handing it back. "There is a simple medical modification to prevent transfluid from being produced until reversed. From what I understand, it would make the frame construction period easier for both of us. I know Ratchet knows how to. I do not know about others, though he has indicated it was common medical knowledge. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?"

"I guess not," Barricade said. "So ... just like that, then?"

"There are three things left before I will sign the contract. Proof of funds, a medical review to determine that we are unlikely to create a severally or critically glitched creation and I would see your apartment, unless you would prefer to skip directly to renting an acceptable one for me for the vorn we are under the contract," Prowl explained. "I do not expect any will cause an issue. It is for my protection."

"Oh, oh sure," Barricade said, nodding, and started to dig around in his subspace. "Huh, didn't even think of the apartment thing, guess it makes it easier, what with all the fragging. Proof of funds," he said, shoving an official statement over. "And I'll make an appointment. There a medic you want?"

"No, though Ratchet and First Aid are best avoided. They have issues with me and what I am doing," Prowl took the statement, scanned it and flicked his doorwings in acceptance of what he saw. "I trust them to tell the truth. It will simply be a very tense meeting."

"Heh." Barricade gave a grunt of amusement as he took the statement back. "Yeah, I can see that. Right, find someone with fewer cogs shoved up his exhaust. After the appointment you can see my place. What'll you do with this one?" he asked, waving his hand about.

"Store the belongings I do not bring and return it," Prowl answered easily. "This is what the government provides for free. I will pay for a better one when I move out of yours."

Barricade snickered as he stood and held his hand out. "Yeah, well, you'll be getting enough for a better one, that's for sure. Government housing's for scrap."

"True, though it's an improvement over before the war," Prowl said as he stood and shook Barricade's hand. "I will see you at the medical appointment."

* * *

Less than two joors after the separation of his second carry, Prowl was taken to Red Alert's home to recover. The security director had prepared for his arrival with extra padding on the berth, and extra security all over the compound. When it was remarked upon, Red Alert defended it as necessary for Prowl's weakened state. Soundwave made no other comment but mentally noted that free of both law and bars separating them, the pair were growing closer and yet were definitely not lovers.

Prowl ended up propped up on the berth to rest with energon pressed into his hands as he considered the end of his second carry. He would likely never see Barricade or Crashcourse again, but that didn't bother him. 

"How are you feeling?" Red Alert asked, sitting down next to him.

"Relieved and very sore," Prowl signed as he leaned into his friend's field. "I do not believe I've ever been more grateful for you're presence."

Red Alert smiled proudly. "I'm sure there have been other times," he said. "Like every time I identified a legitimate security threat."

"That was professionally grateful. This is personally grateful," Prowl clarified as he drank. "How has your vorn been?"

"Same same," Red Alert said, and lay down alongside the Praxian, careful not to trap his doorwing. "So how much did you make off one carry?"

"Enough to live well for at least two vorns without investing," Prowl purred, very pleased with it. "I should be able to invest and gamble and never worry about credits again."

"That's wonderful," Red Alert said with a contented sigh as he tucked his head against Prowl's shoulder. "You're going to keep carrying?"

"Yes," Prowl murmured. "As strange and unsettling as it is, it is ... fulfilling in a strange way. Likely the breeder coding trying to make me feel better about giving up my creations, but it is working well."

Red Alert hummed in agreement. "Whatever makes it easier," he said. "Are you going you change your terms at all?"

"I think I will add a clause about reasonable indulgence and specific details on it. Also about my freedom of movement," Prowl continued to drink. "Barricade was a bit on the hyper-controlling side once sire protocols kicked in."

"I am very glad I was in stasis," Red Alert mused. "I think Soundwave would have been worse than most on that front. Barricade seems like he'd be rather handsy about it though."

"I would not be surprised if Soundwave was, though you do miss out on extremely enjoyable interfacing being in stasis. When creator protocols are focused on frame creation is it very intense and very good." Prowl smiled at his friend and shifted the cube to his off hand so he could stroke Ravage when she jumped up on the berth. "How are you getting along with Secureza?"

"He is intelligent, extremely so," Red Alert said. "He takes to new tasks well, understands the importance of what we teach him. I think he will become an enjoyable addition to my life. I do not feel the bond with him that most carriers describe, but his presence is enjoyable."

"That is far better than I believe either of us expected. I'm glad you like him. Very glad you seem to have a good existence here," Prowl smiled faintly at his friend. "What of Soundwave? Is he still courting you, or have you settled things?"

"We have settled comfortably," Red Alert said, smiling. "We understand each other. I think it's good, for everyone to feel understood by someone. Neither of us are driven by our frames, which means less time can be spent dealing with charge buildup, and more time to each other and our pursuits. Have any shown interest in your next contract?"

"Entirely too much. I had to turn down two contract offers between when Barricade approached me and when the contract was finalized. I will have a selection to choose from for the next," Prowl said with a mixture of pride and pleasure that he was so desirable. "I believe I underestimated the level of interest in having a creation as a single creator. I am far too accustomed to considering it frowned upon."

"I could have told you you'd get plenty of interest," Red Alert teased, then his voice softened. "I think you would make a fine co-creator."

"I have even less capacity to bond with a creation than you," Prowl countered gently. "Even at my most emotional I did not have much to offer a sparkling." He hesitated. "Why do you think I would do well?"

"You're intelligent, your frame is high quality, anyone who teeks you knows that your spark is strong," Red Alert said. "And I don't mean for raising a sparkling, I just mean as a creator. Carrier or sire, doesn't matter."

Prowl flushed a bit with pride at the assessment and its truth. "I'm also with a serious glitch, limited emotional protocols and compliance coding. All of which can or will be passed on if I am the carrier. I did not expect there would be so much interest with such risks."

"You underestimate the sheer value that kindles place on sparklings," Red Alert said seriously. 

"True. Though I suppose given the expense, time and resources required to bring a kindled into the workforce, valuing the results would be reasonable," Prowl gave a small sigh. "Just my part is far more effort than any rookie was to bring up to speed."

Red Alert nodded in agreement. "Do you have anything in mind for an apartment? Promise you'll let me inspect it." 

"Of course," Prowl nuzzled him. "Your input is very valuable, even if I can't afford to implement all of it. I'm looking for a simple one room apartment for now, just something larger and more pleasant than what is offered for free. Reasonably close to work, with a window and larger and flier-grade berth. When investments begin to pay off in a few vorns I'll move to a larger four-room apartment with two berthrooms, an indulgent washrack, a central living room and a better view with more windows."

Red Alert took all of that information and set it aside to be broken down by security protocols in order to create the most efficient security design for all possible layouts based on standard construction patterns. "Two berthrooms?" he asked curiously as he began drawing an outline of Prowl's eventual goal.

"So I no longer need to move when I have a contract. A single berthroom is not viable in the beginning and end of the carry," Prowl explained. "The second berthroom is for the sire when one of us does not want to recharge together. Being so close to someone I am not attached to and do not particularly trust for such an extended period is very stressful."

"Of course, of course," Red Alert said, nodding as he added an extra layer of security for Prowl from sires into the designs. He put a hand over Prowl's chest and pressed his field out warmly, wanting to let the spark know that he was there. He felt it press back, pulsing energy and happy-pleased feelings outward to entangle with his field for a lingering moment before sinking back.

Prowl put a hand over Red Alert's and look at him. "Do you wish to ask my spark as well?"

"I want your spark to know it isn't alone," Red Alert said. There were many who would consider what Prowl had done to be a mutilation.

"You are a good friend," Prowl murmured, the harmonics of deep gratitude and affection not mirrored in his field, but Red Alert knew that it was meant completely. Prowl's armor unlocked and settled open just a crack under Red Alert's hand.

* * *

Prowl was excited for the latest contract offer, his fourth hopeful client. There were many reasons to look forward to carrying Onslaught's creation, some of which were far less trivial than others. He'd long admired the other's processors, and the Decepticon tactician was _massive_. While his armor wasn't as heavy as Megatron's, his actual frame was 3% larger. The convoy would produce an enormous creation and likely a large, strong spark. If anything short of a shuttle would deactivate him, this would.

He managed not to flinch when the compliance coding snapped a warning at him and obediently put the thought of extinguishing away as he pulled up to the Decepticon lieutenant's spacious, elegant home. It was befitting of the tactician that had won the war.

Onslaught greeted him with open arms and a cube of energon as he was welcomed into the home. "I trust you've brought everything," he said. "I've arranged to have a medic stop by in a short while as well."

"I have," Prowl accepted the energon and sipped it smoothly as they walked to the grand library, a collection that managed to inspire a touch of envy in Prowl. "Do you have any modification requests to the generic contract?"

"None," Onslaught said. "To be honest I thought you would have made some modifications yourself, but I found the text unchanged."

"I do not post specific contracts for the general public to access, but more importantly my potential modifications depend upon your desires." He handed a datapad over before they sat in plush chairs. "If I carry a sparkling appropriate to my frame the modifications are to the medic charges for you. If you wish something closer to your frametype, the cost will increase in both base price and length of the carry."

Onslaught nodded and skimmed over the marked paragraphs. "If you are willing, I will pay for the medical care. Cost is no issue." He glanced up at the smaller frame. "I know you've calculated all the odds."

"With you providing typical sire influence, there is a 99.9887% probability the creation will survive to separation and be viable. 83.2119% probability I will survive the process. If I do not, payment will go to my next of kin, as per my last wishes to the living. The greater your physical contribution, the lower the probability of my glitch being passed on, but also the lower the quality of the processors and tac-net. The shift is proportional since my glitch is directly related to the difficulty in balancing the tac-net and real world input." Prowl laid out what he viewed as the relevant parts.

"Noble of you to make personal sacrifice for the sake of the next generation," Onslaught said. "I think we should act in the best interests of the creation, don't you?"

"It is logical," Prowl said simply. "I will not contribute directly again. Megatron will not permit it." He paused to consider all the variances in Onslaught's suggestion before deciding he did not have enough information to do more than guess. "What do you consider more important: quality or lack of the glitch?"

"Lack of a glitch. My processors are not that low of quality," Onslaught said firmly.

"True. You are likely more intelligent than I am. My tac-net is far superior. For each 10% greater influence the base price will increase by 8.5% and the probability of the sparkling surviving separation drops by 1.001%," Prowl supplied. "Have you had a recent lover of my size?"

"Not quite so small, no," Onslaught said, looking Prowl up and down.

"Then be prepared for a significant amount of preparation before penetration. It has been four vorns since I have taken a spike as large as yours should be," Prowl told him.

"'Should be?'" Onslaught repeated with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I know how to be slow. Most mecha are close to your size, not my first time."

"Good," Prowl twitched his doorwings in approval. "Since I have not seen your spike, I can only rely on averages for your frametype. What percentage of influence do you desire for the sparkling's frame?"

"Honestly, as much as I can," Onslaught said, leaning forward. "Within acceptable parameters, however you define them." 

"85% then," Prowl decided. "Where will I be residing during the carry?"

"Here, if you'd like," Onslaught said, gesturing around with a pleased rumble to his engines at the permitted influence. "Your apartment will be a bit small for me."

"Do you have a spare room? One thing I have learned is that there will be nights we do not wish to share the berth," Prowl flicked his doorwings in acceptance of the general idea.

"Of course," Onslaught said, standing. "Would you like to see it before we finalize the details?"

"Yes," Prowl said as he stood, the energon in his hand roughly half finished. "While I do not expect it to cause any issues, there are some expectations I have for my quarters while carrying. Is there anything in the contract you still wish to discus?"

"I understand," Onslaught said, quirking a smile. "I asked Lord Megatron about your preferences, I hope it will suffice." He held the contract up, gesturing to it. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a brutal mech? Not that I'm complaining, I actually admire it."

"That is one description I cannot say I have heard." Prowl raised an optic ridge and followed Onslaught from the library. "What brought you to ask?"

"Oh, that euthanizing the sparkling if the sire didn't want it clause," Onslaught shrugged. "You're willing to spend a vorn, or nearly so, strengthening and building the frame, and you'd kill it, just like that."

"Of course. If the sire doesn't want it, it is unsuitable for society. That clause is a kindness, not a brutality. It is better to put unsuitable mecha down quickly, cleanly and early than to make it suffer because the sire does not have a legal out to dealing with something he doesn't want."

Onslaught nodded, then there was a beat of silence and Prowl picked up on a comm signal. "The medic will meet us up there in a groon," he said. "Now--full washrack, just down there," he said, gesturing at a hallway, "And your chamber would be right up here. I've been meaning to install an oil pool, that should be completed within two decaorns after everything is finalized." He stopped at a doorway that showed an empty room with a large window and a ledge for a berth, but there was nothing on it. "This door will be programmed for your control, and I understand you appreciate flier-grade padding. A fully equipped workspace, with connections to all the major markets, here," he pointed at the opposite wall. "Is this suitable?"

"Yes," Prowl answered with a pleased flicker of his doorwings. "It is suitable. Since you spoke to Lord Megatron, I will assume he spoke to you about my state in the last two and a half metacycles of my carry for him. I do not expect my temperament to be any better this time when faced with the discomfort and immobility. I would ensure that we can interface safely before we kindle. If I require any valve modifications it should be done before I am carrying."

"Of course," Onslaught said, rubbing at his mouth to hide the slight smile there. "Though if you were able to take Megatron, you should be able to take me. I can always have my spike modified later if it becomes a problem and it's too late for you to modify."

"That would be acceptable as well," Prowl agreed before they turned to greet the medic as he arrived.

"Hiya Prowl! Hi Onslaught!" Scalpel took one look at Onslaught and whistled. "You're a big one, aren't you." He flicked his visor in a wink at Prowl. "Got some cravings, huh? Regular checks today, same as usual?" 

Prowl had worked with Scalpel before and was pleased to see him. It would mean far less time explaining the subsystems he wanted checked and the reasons why. Scalpel had also never shown any interest--negative or otherwise--in Prowl's carrying agreements. If Prowl could change one thing, it would be the overly cheery demeanor that he suspected was the result of medical protocols gone haywire.

"Yes, the usual," Prowl ignored the irrelevant parts of the rambling greeting and Onslaught ushered them out of Prowl's future quarters and down the hall into a smaller, equally empty chamber.

"For the sparkling, when he's young," Onslaught said with a pleased rumble. "I'm waiting until I know more about him to really put much more into it." 

Scalpel nodded his satisfaction when the door locked behind them and pulled out three different types of hardware readers, a scanner, and a single spark-specific tool. "Prowl knows how this all goes already," he said, as the Praxian unlocked his chest. "Get the spark stuff done with first 'cause without that you won't exactly be making little pitter patters, then some frame stuff, then some processor stuff, it's pretty boring so I hope you're fine with sitting still for a while. Should be no problems, though."

Onslaught watched, enchanted by the ice blue spark that Prowl bared without apparent care that a former enemy was there. It was not something Onslaught believed he'd be quite so casual about, even as he was ready to do it. After all, if he couldn't bare his spark around Prowl now, kindling would be a serious problem.

Scalpel hummed and clicked to himself as he started scanning Prowl's spark, pausing when he was done. "You wanna hear about medical risks or waive counsel?" he asked, and it sounded like a rote, routine question that the medic already knew the answer to.

"I waive counsel. I know the risks," Prowl answered easily, to which Scalpel nodded and moved on to plugging in to scan Prowl's system status while his chest armor closed and locked.

He chattered nonstop about how nice it was to see couples creating again, sounding more like a pamphlet on the benefits of being a creator than anything, and when he was all done, turned to Onslaught. "Your turn," he announced. "Don't worry, it only pinches a little."

The convoy class mech huffed and unlocked his armor, his more limited familiarity and comfort showing. Scalpel didn't make any comments, he merely hummed, waited patiently and broadcast his movements clearly for the warrior to be ready for. His movements and tone with Onslaught as he took the readings were slower and calmer than what he'd showed with Prowl, accurately interpreting the hesitation and leaning back onto protocol to help him keep the convey class at ease. 

Onslaught still felt much better when his plating was closed and Scalpel was compiling the spark data. 

"Perfectly compatible!" he announced before moving onto the frame readings, and when those were done, he gave the same result. "You're a bit large," was his only comment to Onslaught. "I must officially advise limiting influence."

"Understood," the convoy nodded. 

"Understood," Prowl agreed. "Do we have any coding incompatibilities to be concerned for?"

"Ah..." Scalpel glanced at his hardware. "There are a few marked lines, but they're deep in the subsystems. Values in gain-loss systems. Nothing to worry about."

Prowl nodded and looked at Onslaught.

Onslaught shook his head. "Thank you, Scalpel," he said. "You'll find your fee waiting for you at the door."

Scalpel tipped his helm, packed up, and left.

"Do you wish to determine how much prep I require now?" Prowl asked calmly, though there was a small hum of anticipation in his systems.

"Eager?" Onslaught said with a chuckle. "All right, why not? C'mon, my berth is plenty big enough. Will you need lube?" he asked as they walked. "Or do you want to see if you can make enough on your own?" 

"I prefer to make my own, if possible. It does feel better," Prowl's tone dropped to a purr. "I managed with Megatron. I should still be able to."

"All right, and we'll go slow," Onslaught said, slipping his hand onto Prowl's back with a possessive air, leading him to his berthroom.


	12. Fear and Love

Starscream valued his life, he really did, and that was why, whenever he began to seriously consider taking pot shots at Laserbeak, he reminded himself exactly how many pieces Soundwave could reduce a mech to before they deactivated. He was doing his best to ignore the avian circling around his head as he worked, but when Laserbeak squawked loudly right in his audial he jumped up, sending the cassette airborne again. " _What?_ " he snapped. 

A growling yip from behind turned his attention around and he saw Ravage sitting on a console. She pressed an activation switch and Starscream walked over to see a camera feed showing...

"That's Prowl," he said, frowning, not quite understanding what he was looking at. Another frame was in the way. "Why is that...."

Another pause and Ratchet moved out of the feed, showing more clearly just how badly damaged Prowl was with his inners on display and armor arranged in ways that made it look like a low explosive bomb had gone off inside him. 

Starscream hissed in shock, fingers clenching and claws digging into the edge of the station. He was looking at the aftermath of the separation of Onslaught's creation. If Ratchet had been called... 

"This is--it's right now?" he rasped. 

Ravage snarled at him as her tail twitched in a very clear _yes_ , and then the symbiots disappeared. 

Starscream's spark felt funny in his chest as he watched the medic moving about, hands moving so fast they were barely visible. How had Prowl let the creation damage him so badly? They could have separated it early, finished the construction in a gestation tank. That thing must have been _huge_ , even larger that Megatron's spawn was.

He twitched again, twisted inside between the need to fly to Prowl and the clear knowledge that he'd be thrown out on his aft if he tried.

No, he would never be allowed in, not even if Prowl was kliks away from death. Not even if Prowl was _dead_. 

A strangled, half-formed snarl came from his vocalizer as Ratchet fought against time to stem the massive tears in Prowl's fuel system. There were sparking wires, energon, lubricant, oils and other fluids covered the berth and pooled inside Prowl's frame. A quick glance around the room showed no sign of Onslaught and Starscream's next snarl was deeper and fully formed.

The tactician had taken what he wanted and left Prowl to extinguish or not _alone_. He stewed, impotent, for three more kliks that felt like an eternity before the movement of red and white drew his attention back to the screen. 

It wasn't Ratchet, or First Aid. No, it was ... was that Soundwave's glitched lover? The one that actually bred. The one that Prowl was so close too.

Red Alert, his processors finally supplied. The twitchy, paranoid security director who had to be put in stasis for his own carry or risk deactivating from fright. 

He immediately went to Prowl's side and took one limp hand, gaze switching back and forth between fearful glances about the room and looking at Prowl. Ratchet snapped that he didn't have time to deal with another glitched mech and Red Alert nodded, visibly trying his best to focus on Prowl.

Ice blue optics flickered faintly, and even Starscream could see the smile and faint squeeze of hand that Prowl gave his ... friend, mate ... bonded? They acted as close as any bonded couple Starscream knew. Maybe even closer than most.

It hurt to look at. Was it even possible to carry for another if one was bonded? Starscream wasn't actually sure. 

He _was_ sure that Prowl spent entirely too much time with the unimpressive, pathetic mess of a security director. How could he ever be proud of _that_ glitchy thing? 

Ratchet was talking, asking Red Alert questions about what Prowl would want in circumstances these severe.

Blue optics cast down, looking at Prowl's lax face but not really seeing it. "No heroic efforts. No efforts at all."

" _What?_ " Starscream and Ratchet snarled in unison, the seeker leaning forward to glare at Prowl on the screen. "You fragging moron!" he shouted, as Ratchet began a similar tirade, not stopping his work. Starscream silently promised death if the medic listened to Prowl's idiotic wishes. 

Thankfully the medic had growled out his own definition of what extreme and heroic meant, and clearly thought this situation called for neither, appearances be damned.

Fortunately for the former security director, Red Alert didn't object to the efforts. He'd answered, but now that Starscream wasn't out to shred someone, he was making a clear statement with his silence that _he_ wanted Prowl to survive.

If anyone needed shredding, it would be Prowl. Or Onslaught. Maybe both, Starscream couldn't decide. 

Tense kliks passed by, and at one point, Starscream thought the medic might have lost his battle against the torn-up frame's desire to deactivate, and even Red Alert cried out, but not a moment later pale blue optics flickered back on. 

"None of that," Ratchet growled at him.

Prowl focused on him briefly, then shut back down for the medic to continue working. In all of the time he'd spent with Prowl, Starscream had never seen him so blank, so indifferent. Not even at the end.

What was _wrong_ with that mech's processors?

And then, a quieter thought... 

...What had Starscream _done_ to him? 

It was banished as quickly as it came--obviously this was some deeply seated issue that Starscream had nothing to do with and should count himself lucky to have avoided. Prowl was so ready to turn around and whore himself out for cash, Starscream should be thankful not to have sired a creation on him. That _thing_ on the screen was not Prowl he'd known. The Prowl he'd known had been a filthy lie, preying upon desperation and ignorance. 

Well, Starscream was no longer ignorant. He wouldn't fall for it, not again.

So why did he care? Why did it hurt so much to see Prowl laid out like this with the best medic on Cybertron fighting to save him? It was a moment of weakness, it had to be. Remembering the lie he'd fallen for, cared about, and associated with that frame. He should be over it, but not even he was perfect. Not about everything.

He tried to pull himself away, because watching only continued to indicate some level of care, but every time he managed even a step, a surge of panic brought him back. He ignored the panic, and told himself it was idle curiosity that kept him watching. 

When Ratchet's hands stopped, Prowl was still online, and Starscream sagged, then fell to his knees, shaking all over from the exhaustion of holding so tense and anxious for so long. 

He could hear the security director's joy, and that quickly tumbled into the screaming fits of a deep, glitch-induced and terror-filled hallucination, but Starscream didn't care about that. 

His hand was shaking. He looked at it. He'd been so afraid. 

No, he'd only forgotten to refuel.

* * *

It was torment, in many ways, the metacycle and decaorn it took Prowl to recover enough to return to work, and that orn seemed like the longest and most useless in Starscream's existence. He couldn't get anything done. He couldn't focus. Not even flying brought relief. Only the ping that Prowl's duty shift as an analyst was over brought any kind of stability to the racing of Starscream's processors.

He replaced racing processors with roaring thrusters and flew as fast as he could to the tower Prowl worked in. He had to slow, circling the tower until he saw Prowl walk out with the many other peons that worked there.

He angled down, waiting for a big enough space to emerge and then transformed, landing on both pedes right in front of the Praxian, staring into his optics. He could feel his wings flicking and twitching as distantly removed appendages, and all he would have to do would be to lean forward--

Primus, had Prowl always been that much shorter than him? 

The hiss and flared doorwings -- an open threat that was only given honestly by deeply threatened or fearful mecha -- snapped Starscream out of his inner thoughts and to both Prowl and the crowd that had taken note of the rather extreme reaction. His optics and wings both tracked Prowl trying to back away.

"I want a meeting," he said through clenched denta, trying to keep his voice level and non-threatening. 

He watched as Prowl regained control of himself and slipped closer to the drone-like manner, though he never quite made it.

"For what?" Prowl did manage to steady his voice.

"To negotiate a _contract_ ," Starscream said, trying to sound something resembling nice and reasonable. 

"No," Prowl said, and managed to straighten, though it was painfully clear that he was only holding his doorwings steady by force of will.

"Do you really want to have this conversation in public?" Starscream asked.

"There is no conversation to have, Starscream," Prowl insisted as he got himself a bit more under control. "The risk is too high for a severe or critical glitch in a creation."

"That isn't true," Starscream hissed, lowering his voice and stepping forward but still not touching. At this range he could teek what had driven the earlier displays. Pain. Intense emotional pain. "You accept interviews and testing for anyone who can pay, well, I can pay, I want to see the tests myself." 

Prowl scowled faintly, caught in the partial lie but not willing to back down. "I accept interviews and testing for anyone who I am willing to carry for should the tests and their finances prove them suitable."

"Are my credits not good enough for you?" Starscream asked, wings held high and tense.

"No," Prowl said bluntly. "My spark must be willing, and it is most definitely _not_."

"Give me a chance to make a case," Starscream said. "You hear the others out who come to you."

Another sharp flare of pain-filled near-panic surged through Prowl's field once more, but the Praxian finally flicked his doorwings in acceptance. "Very well. Where and when?"

"Your house, right now," Starscream said, and stepped back.

"Very well," Prowl agreed and walked around Starscream to the road and transformed before pulling into traffic.

Starscream glared after him, then turned a darker glare on the observing crowd before taking off, following Prowl in the air until they reached an upper end apartment building. Not extravagant, not even to Starscream's standards, but comfortable enough for a grounder, he supposed. 

He followed Prowl inside and the door to Prowl's home had barely closed before his vocalizer ran off, the words falling out before he could stop them "How _dare_ you risk your life for some worthless grounder spawn and still refuse to give me a chance."

Prowl turned on him, his frame steady and optics a bit too bright. "Your right to my life and choices ended when you rejected me in that prison cell. Both belong to me now, as much as they ever have or will."

Starscream's hands curled into fists and he worked to regain some sort of control of himself, and he was sure the struggle was showing in his wings. "I want a contract," he finally managed. "I want our compatibility tested, I want you to be my carrier--" 

"No," Prowl said. 

"Then," Starscream said, working to speak, and he fumbled in his subspace, pulling out three credit sticks, "I want everything but the sparkling. I'll pay you the same. I'll even pay for what medical costs would have been." His gaze remained stubbornly down, near Prowl's pedes. "You take credits from the others for the same thing, just with a sparkling. If it's because we aren't compatible, it shouldn't matter."

"No." Prowl actually growled. "I'm not a buymech. I won't kindle with you because I _can't_. You can't tell me you can't teek what your _presence_ is doing to my spark. I'm suicidal, but I don't hate myself that much."

Starscream flinched back. "I teek that you're in _pain_ ," he said. "And I don't understand--I don't even understand why I care so much but I _especially_ don't understand how _one orn_ could destroy two vorns of--of whatever we were! Those happened, they weren't a lie!"

"Because you recoiled _against my spark_ , took an offer of comfort as something horrible and left me to die," Prowl bit out. "I do not understand how you could ever believe a prisoner can give consent to their jailer, but I have accepted that is where my core coding as an Enforcer deviates significantly from whatever yours is. My processors forgave you. My spark is not so rational."

" _Somehow_ , the others managed to believe they were giving consent without lying to their suitors," Starscream shot back. "And something else I saw in your spark--that you believed it was Megatron fully at fault against _both_ of us, and then you took him to berth! Where is the logic in _that?_ "

Prowl shook his helm. "No others were Praxian Enforcers. The law isn't as integrated into every priority tree and reaction protocol in them. As for Megatron, I told him what I believe. Whatever he saw in my spark allowed him to continue. By then I was not privy to that exchange."

"I don't ... understand," Starscream said, and took a careful step forward, broadcasting the movement, holding his arms to the sides so Prowl could see them. The surge of pain-panic rose again, but settled more quickly and didn't display at all this time. "How could you not be..." Strange behaviors, things he'd heard and seen, were starting to click into place as his processors began to contemplate something impossible. "What did you do?"

"I closed off my processors from my spark," Prowl answered, as if he was describing his ornly routine.

Starscream gave a low moan and shuddered. "If you won't take my credits, then give me a chance to fix this," he said, and a thin light shone down the center of his cockpit.

"No." The tone was level but the way Prowl twisted around and bolted into one of the other rooms was another matter. The door closed and Starscream heard the click of a lock.

"You have two hundred and forty three nanokliks to vacate the property or the authorities will be summoned," a very upset and definitely-not-Prowl voice snarled from a speaker somewhere.

Starscream snarled in the general direction of it. "I was invited in." 

"And now you are being shown out," the voice said firmly. "You will be charged to the fullest extent with unlawful presence if you fail to comply." 

Starscream's wings canted back furiously but he backed up to the exit. He paused in the doorway, looked at the credit sticks still clenched in his hand, then threw them inside and stepped back. The door slammed in his face. 

His spark skipped a beat and his ventilations froze, then he pressed helm and palms to the door and wailed. 

* * *

Back in Prowl's berthroom, the Praxian couldn't make himself stop shaking. What little of his upper processors were still online couldn't work out what had happened, only that every system and protocol was flooded with _fear-hide-overwhelming threat_ that wouldn't go away. He distantly recognized that his tac-net, the thing he'd been build around and to support, was offline and it had taken most of his processors with it.

"Prowl, my love, my dearest," came a low, soothing voice. It was steady and calm, familiar. "Can you hear me?" 

"Red Alert, yes." Relief washed through Prowl at the sound of his friend's voice. "I can hear him."

"He can't get in, I promise you," Red Alert said. "Listen to me instead. He will get bored and fly away. I will never leave."

"Trust you," Prowl obeyed, focusing on the voice that had been his salvation and security for over half a millennia in a world that he didn't belong in. "You've always done right."

"That's right, I have," Red Alert said, warmth in his voice. "Can you do something for me? Can you recite your binary base code? I'd really like to hear it."

"Okay," Prowl agreed and began, start to finish, what he could access. He had a sense that there was more, a lot more, but he couldn't reach it.

In Soundwave's compound, Red Alert had to struggle not to gasp at how little was there. He could tell just from Prowl running and the emergency lock engaging that the tac net had been shut down. He wasn't expecting just how much it took down with it. In this moment, Secureza had more advanced protocols and processor operation than Prowl did.

At least Starscream had flown away sometime while Prowl had been reciting. Red Alert's twitched anxiously. Prowl shouldn't be left alone with so much shut down. He needed to be somewhere safe, and he needed someone he knew to steady him while everything started back up. "Thank you, that was perfect," he said. "If I sent Ravage, do you think you would be able to come to me?"

There was a long silence while Prowl stilled, working to determine all the complicated variables with a very limited processor and logic core.

"Ravage is good. I'd like to be with you. I can't drive ... but I'll try," Prowl eventually promised.

"No, not if you can't drive," Red Alert said firmly. "Too dangerous. Ravage is going to stay outside and make sure that no one can come in that you don't want, all right?"

"Okay," Prowl agreed in the same way Secureza did: reflexive obedience to a registered safe person. It made Red Alert all the more grateful of what he and Prowl shared and a bit humbled at how deeply he was considered safe to the Praxian. "He's really gone?"

"I am looking at every single external camera right now," Red Alert said. "He is really gone." 

The x-vent of relief spoke both to Prowl's state, and to his faith in his friend.

Red Alert glanced at the door to his own safe haven. Soundwave was gone and wouldn't be back until late in the orn, and Red Alert knew he wouldn't be able to make the trip himself without high risk of loss of processor function. "Can you wait until tonight? I will come get you. I'll stay on speaker the whole time."

Prowl nodded at first, though whether he was aware that Red Alert could see him was debatable. "Yes. I think I can do that," he said as he carefully unwedged himself from under his desk where he'd taken refuge and walked almost normally halfway across the room before a distant sonic boom sent him scrambling for the psychological safety of his berth, having a solid wall behind him and a blanket pulled up around him.

In his sparkling Red Alert had seen it as a strangely cute but inefficient way to cope with stressors that the immature processors were not capable of handling. In his friend, a mecha he'd long known had been sparked an adult ready to work, it was distressing.

He replayed the code that Prowl had recited, constructing a better picture this time of the systems that were still running and which ones he could use to distract his friend, keep his attention focused away from the present. "It's all right," he said again, using harmonics designed to keep military mecha calm even while broadcasting a security breach. "No one can get in. Hey, you know, I've never seen a mature crystal garden before, can you tell me about one?"

Prowl smiled as he sank into safe memories of good times when he'd been freshly activated. Nowhere close to the memories of destruction. "Barricade is doing a good job with Bluestreak's help. It'll take a couple thousand vorns to reach maturity, but you'll see one. The largest crystal trees reach as tall as an Omega bot and sturdy enough to play on, but those are ancient, nearly as old as the city. Most are more delicate, not twice the height of a convoy, standing up. Then there are the geometric crystals suspended in glowing gasses. They always look so amazing, like they're defying gravity, even though they aren't."

Red Alert smiled and absorbed the verbal images of things Prowl had shared memory files of and allowed the mech to ramble on about crystals and anything else that crossed his processor. So long as he was talking, Prowl would be calm enough. Like Red Alert, it was when he stopped speaking, or stopped making sense, that he was in trouble.

After a while, Prowl slipped into silence, and even questions of the past weren't rousing his interest. Red Alert wavered, not sure if trying to bring him back to the present would be a good idea... But he couldn't leave him in silence with no indication of what his processors were doing. "Why are you afraid?" he asked the Praxian who was still huddled up.

Silence persisted, but the visual of Prowl's frame shivering and doorwings more mobile than ever at least spoke that he was things, trying.

"I ... he ... I showed you what he did," Prowl eventually got out. "I couldn't take it again."

"Being rejected?" Red Alert supplied. "By someone you cared about."

"Yes," Prowl mumbled. "He was _horrified_ with me."

"He is a fool," Red Alert said. "You are a prize to be cherished, my darling."

"I ... thank you," Prowl whispered, looking up directly at the concealed camera that Red Alert had tapped into. "Thank you," he repeated more firmly, steadying a bit more.

* * *

The moment Soundwave was within the city limits, Red Alert was comming him to come home, databusting the entire situation over in a matter of kliks. Soundwave responded immediately and Red Alert watched the screen showing traffic patterns being subtly altered in such a way that would allow him to travel through the city with the least amount of threat. 

If there was just one benefit to carrying the Head of Security's only creation, Red Alert would have to say was the mech's willingness to do just about anything to keep him satisfied and glitch-free.

Red Alert gathered himself, his wits and his will, and met Soundwave at the gate.

The sire of his creation transformed up out of his heavy, barricade-ramming alt mode. "Red Alert: prepared to leave?" he questioned.

"Affirmative." Red Alert cycled a deep ventilation, reminded himself of why he was leaving the safety of his sanctuary and transformed. "Soundwave leads."

"Agreed." Soundwave transformed and silently instructed Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to fly above them, keeping a scanner on the surroundings as they traveled faster than was legal to Prowl's apartment. No one challenged the Decepticon Head of Communications, Intelligence and Security when he walked in and to a lift to reach Prowl's floor. His white and red shadow was similarly unchallenged and stayed close to his master, grateful that he had no issues logging into the building security net to keep an extra optic on everything. Ravage gave a relieved sound as they approached before nuzzling her master and then her favorite charge. 

Red Alert entered the override for the door, bypassing the building security and going straight for the system of his own creating. ::It's safe,:: he transmitted to Prowl. ::It isn't him. He is gone.:: He made his way in to the locked berthroom that Prowl was still huddled inside, and palmed open the door.

He was expecting to see Prowl where he had been, possibly cringing harder at being exposed, but in the partial klik it took the door to slide open Prowl rushed from the berth on the far wall and all but assaulted Red Alert in his effort to get close. Prowl's field was more alive with emotions that Red Alert had ever experienced with him, and most of it teeked of relief.

To most, it might have been prompted some kindledist notion of healing or recovery, but for Red Alert, it was unsettling and even alarming. "Oh, dearest," he whispered, holding Prowl tightly. He worked to keep his sensory inputs low by reminding his processor he had been in this space and trusted it. Glitching now would be the worst possible timing. His field was kept carefully neutral as Prowl gradually stopped trembling and his field shifted to follow. Gradually, they made their way to the ground floor.

"Where is he?" Prowl asked as he paused before the last door. 

"Starscream: in Starscream's apartment." Soundwave answered. "Current occupation: becoming overcharged. Flight: not possible."

Prowl let a sound of relief escape him and relaxed his grip on Red Alert the rest of the way to rest their forehelms together. "I think you can activate my transformation protocols without doing damage." He offered a wrist port.

Red Alert couldn't hide the wave of relief that Prowl was willing to work with him to get back to Soundwave's much more secure estate. He nodded and plugged in, hooking up and looking carefully through Prowl's processors. The place was a mess with so many systems and protocols shut down without warning, but what was operational all seemed to be in functional enough order.

He realized all of a sudden why the teek felt so strong. The blocks holding Prowl's spark back had been shattered. Not just the extra ones that Prowl had installed after Starscream had first rejected him, but _everything_ , even the ones he'd been sparked with. For the first time Red Alert was speaking to the full mech. ~Activating now,~ he said, focusing on the important task. He watched carefully as lines of code activated and integrated, and noted with some fascination just how little the transformation and driving protocols were linked with anything else. Driving at least he'd expected to be tightly linked to social protocols, but for Prowl, they linked to legal and physical only.

"Ravage can ride with me," Prowl offered, looking at the cassette that had to ride with someone.

She gave an affirmative sound but looked to Soundwave.

"Affirmative. Ravage: travels in Prowl."

"Should be fully online, can you confirm?" Red Alert asked as he unplugged, eager to leave. Soundwave would only be able to alter the traffic patterns for so long. 

Prowl ran a check and rapid diagnostic, then nodded. "Confirmed." 

"Prowl, Red Alert: follow Soundwave," Soundwave said as he led the entire troupe out the door and back to the streets. Red Alert would have to think of a way to thank him later; Soundwave was pulling a lot of strings for them. 

The trip home was without event, but Red Alert still felt very physical shudders of relief when the gates locked behind them. 

Ravage climbed out of Prowl before he transformed. The Praxian knelt to let the cassette out before standing to face Soundwave. "Thank you. For caring for Red Alert and for helping me."

"Soundwave: is happy to help Red Alert," the host said, inclining his helm as Laserbeak jumped into his chest. "Further assistance: desired at this time?" 

"Negative," Red Alert said, looking up at him. "Red Alert, will comm Soundwave when assistance is needed." He thought about the trauma he'd seen in Prowl's processors. "Future assistance, likely."

"Understood." Soundwave inclined his helm slightly to the pair, noted that Ravage requested to stay with them and gave permission.

"Inside?" Prowl suggested to Red Alert when Soundwave walked off. "I'm tired and hungry."

"I'm not surprised," Red Alert said with a warm smile as he led Prowl to his quarters. "I can fix both of those. Fuel and recharge?"

"Yes," Prowl's field flared with warmth-thanks and he leaned against his friend in affection rather than for support.

One thing that Red Alert couldn't help but feel grateful for was that even with no intellectual filtering, Prowl cared deeply for him, trusted him, loved him, but wasn't giving off the desire to mate or be a mate. What was between them was honest from spark to processors and it gave Red Alert a kind of joyful contentment he relished for its rarity.

* * *

Red Alert did his best to relax while plugged into his recharging friend, who was curled around him and radiating contentment and feeling safe. In this state Prowl's processors and coding were at their most relaxed short of medical stasis and Red Alert gently and carefully worked his way through them, repairing lines of code either from memory of what they should look like, or more often his training in what they should be. Normally his paranoia would be exaggerated, but he knew full well just how nasty the traps were in this processor and the tac-net behind it.

He was saving that system for last, and would be asking for Soundwave's help in dealing with it, but for now, better to be safe and work on the smaller systems. 

However Starscream had spooked Prowl, he'd done it in a way that caused the Praxian's spark to shatter through the blocks and wrench back control of the processors, offlining almost everything that wasn't necessary to _escape_ and _hide_. Red Alert sighed. Prowl was truly terrified at the thought of letting Starscream come close to him again and it wasn't fear of the seeker, but of the emotional pain the seeker brought with him.

If that crazy flier hadn't tried to suggest a spark merge by opening his chest armor they might have just managed a civil discussion to the end and gotten somewhere productive. Did Starscream have any grasp at all of how difficult it was for a pre-prog like them to let someone close that wasn't from their command?

Red Alert snorted, carefully sifting through what felt like endless layers of code, looking for damaged threads. Obviously Starscream understood very little about their kind, and respected them even less. As far as Red Alert could tell, he hadn't even tried to understand what had gone wrong, except by confronting Prowl about it, which was the _worst_ thing. It wasn't at all unusual for a kindled mech to act that way, but Red Alert had hoped for better of Starscream, for Prowl's sake. 

A careful edit brought about no snares or traps, so Red Alert pressed on. This kind of work wasn't his expertise, but he was competent enough for the basic procedures that Prowl needed in order to feel more like himself when he came back online. His spark ached for his friend and how very little he felt like he was accomplishing. He lost track of time, counting on his alerts to notify him of anything that needed his attention, as he gradually worked his way through Prowl's coding. This was the first time he'd seriously studied it and he finally grasped why Prowl was so desperate to extinguish.

Compliance coding demanded Prowl follow the old laws for a Praxian Enforcer. The war had demanded he be something completely different and his leaders, from the Prime on down, had not understood his needs as an Enforcer pre-prog. Prowl had never been coded to be a leader. He had coding for dispatch and for field organization, but the damage he'd done to himself to perform his duties as CTO, and then as SIC, was deep and likely permanent. It looked like Prowl had made it so that if the mech he identified as his superior demanded he lead, he would lead. Whoever he locked onto held him and controlled him completely, and Prowl gave everything he was. 

Had Prowl locked onto Starscream? If he had he was even more damaged than he looked, to be able to reject the seeker repeatedly. No, it was much more likely that it had locked onto Megatron, or even no one at all. That latter would definitely explain some of Prowl's erratic and openly suicidal choices. He'd had Soundwave strip the compliance coding from Secureza just after separation, even before Red Alert was out of stasis, but for a mecha who'd come online an adult and existed with it as part of his ornly existence for so long ... Red Alert shivered. His was much less invasive than Prowl's and he couldn't conceive of being without the safety and stability it represented.

He sighed and stroked Prowl's helm. Being betrayed by a superior was a difficult and intensely painful process. Being betrayed by a superior that Red Alert suspected Prowl might have loved, as far as he was capable of it... 

He was glad to finish with the work and be able to just hold Prowl in his arms until the mech booted up on his own, rested and hopefully feeling better. He was _very_ glad he was still plugged in and paying enough attention to recognize what was happening in real time. He wasn't fast enough to stop it, but he could at least be prepared by the time Prowl was conscious.

The compliance coding acted as if this was the first boot cycle of a new mecha and locked onto _him_.

Red Alert tried not to wince. That hadn't been his intention. The last thing he wanted for them was for Prowl to see him as an authority. 

"Dear spark," he murmured, keeping those thoughts carefully separate. "How do you feel?"

"Safe, stable," Prowl actually purred as he snuggled close, his field smooth and warm, happy to be where he was.

Red Alert smiled. "Good. Can you run some checks for me? I'd like to see how your self-diagnostics are working. I've done a lot of work. Do you know what happened?"

Prowl shivered as the memory, one of entirely too much clarity for a normal recording, loaded to the forefront of his awareness. "Starscream insisted on talking. We talked. About a contract, why I refused, how little he understood. His chest plates started to open," he pressed closer to Red Alert, emotions alive and unchecked with no experience in how to deal with them without the tac-net active. The recording dropped in quality sharply, laced with static and jumping frames as Prowl had bolted. "You made him go away."

"I did," Red Alert said, petting Prowl's helm. "I'm sorry he tried what he did. I would have thrown him out sooner if I'd realized how little he understands."

"I know you would have," Prowl trilled, supportive and thankful. "You stayed with me, kept me stable until you could come. It reads like you've done a lot of work, and everything that's online is reporting green. Tac-net's still down, but I'm not sure why it didn't boot up."

"I'm afraid I don't know," Red Alert said. He kissed Prowl's helm, shifting his attention to the hardline as the self-diagnostics finished. He carefully brushed against the surface of the compliance coding, and the new attachments. ~You choose me?~ he asked.

Prowl's awareness startled as he listened to the question and confirmation from the code he rarely thought about and had never really challenged.

Red Alert suppressed the twitch. He couldn't stay in control like this, but he couldn't risk the damage of rejecting the loyalty. He would spend all of his time obsessing about Prowl's behavior and whether or not he was influencing it, driving himself to glitches with the hyper-vigilance. ~I...~ he said, frozen, and then decided to take a risk. ~I want you to be loyal to yourself and your desires.~

Prowl cocked his helm slightly as he thought about it, completely independently from the coding the ruled his existence. Prowl was curious, more than a bit afraid, but he trusted Red Alert on a level that allowed him to go past his fears. The coding was less sure, and there was a painfully long pause as it searched inside the black box where it lived, inaccessible to anything but itself, before responding with an affirmative that was pure AI. No emotion attached; the unusual order had been cleared and accepted.

~So ... what happens now?~ Prowl asked, sounding far, far younger than he was.

~I ... don't know,~ Red Alert said. ~Do you still wish to carry?~

Prowl thought about it, though Red Alert could feel the spark answering yes well before the processors agreed. ~I'm not comfortable without the tac-net's reports, but I think so. I ... it feels good to create new lives, even though I don't connect with them. It's the only thing I can do to be productive for society. I _need_ to be productive.~

Red Alert nodded. ~My offer still stands,~ he murmured.

There was a moment of confusion as processors and spark and memory tried to place the reference, then Prowl nodded. ~I don't want to extinguish. I don't know what else to do.~

~I can find something that gives you fulfillment,~ Red Alert said. ~Something that won't wear you out so quickly.~

Prowl mulled that over for a long time, every thought, from survival to quality of life to investments to impact on the future to personal happiness flickered and flowed in neat, ordered patterns to be queued for the tac-net on booting. To Red Alert, a more direct thought was given. ~I'll try it.~

Red Alert nodded and nuzzled him. ~Thank you.~

* * *

Soundwave waited for Red Alert to unlock the door to let him into his space. Prowl was ready to bring the tac net online, and both of them wanted Soundwave's expertise for the process. Soundwave was happy to help, interested by the mech and whatever he had with Red Alert, and _definitely_ curious about what was going on with Starscream. All the surveillance in the world couldn't explain the nuances. 

"Soundwave, welcome," Red Alert said. The former security director's tone and face made Soundwave's circuits feel brighter. The carrier of his creation held a unique place in his spark, and Red Alert's tendency to conform to his habits and mannerisms was touching.

Soundwave inclined his helm to him before looking at Prowl, who was laying on the berth as a safety precaution in case the boot cycle took him offline or something similar. "Prowl: ready to begin?"

"Affirmative," Prowl responded. Even at this distance Soundwave could teek how different Prowl was, and from the surface scans it was clear that it wasn't just the tac-net being down that caused it. 

The mech's spark, which had been caged, was out in the open again. Soundwave walked over and knelt, plugging into the already-open hardline. ~Soundwave: curious what is between Prowl and Red Alert,~ he said, taking advantage of the privacy.

The response was surprisingly open, but didn't come in glyphs, but rather in memory-thought-emotions. Platonic love, devotion, trust, deep affection, strong kinship. Even their spark merges, which by default created an overload, were not erotic moments to Prowl, but rather a closeness that had nothing to do with interfacing or pleasure. 

It was a sentiment that Soundwave understood very well, better than most mecha. ~Soundwave: wonders why Prowl trusts a former enemy,~ he said, a little surprised by the free flow of information and how open Prowl's processors were. ~Query: tac net's status is responsible?~

Prowl had to dig around to answer that, and in the process it gave Soundwave a good look at how the protocols and action trees were formed. They almost all lead to and from the tac net. Even with Prowl only looking it was clear that the hardware was integrated far too completely to be an afterthought. No, this frame had been designed to support and pass on the tac-net. It was rather surprising how functional Prowl was without it.

~Likely,~ Prowl eventually replied. ~ _Former_ enemy. You take good care of Red Alert. You've never done anything personal against me or those I care about. Just the business of war.~

~Soundwave: glad Prowl feels so. Prowl: good to Red Alert,~ Soundwave said.

Pleasure at the assessment, and a stronger sense that Prowl respected Soundwave, flushed across Prowl's field and awareness. ~Soundwave is good to Red Alert as well.~

And oh, was that important to Prowl. Deep down, there were flickers that he'd arranged for mecha to extinguish over hurting Red Alert or others he'd taken into his personal circle. Among them Bluestreak was the only other one who'd survived. Never that he'd done it himself, but as a ranking tactical officer, and then a ranking command officer, he'd had a great deal of power to put mecha in harm's way, and he'd used it to protect the few who were close to him. Not just used that authority, but felt no guilt or shame over doing so.

Soundwave made note to keep slightly better track of the other Praxian carrier and sent over the sense that he approved, deeply, of Prowl's actions and felt the spark there relax, accepting the approval and needing it on a level that had nothing to do with thinking. He considered the tac-net, but didn't initiate the start-up sequence just yet. There was much to learn here, and knowledge was power. ~Prowl: has any desires for his existence?~ he asked, a question he knew was of great importance to Red Alert.

~To be valued, productive, to improve society.~ The glyphs came with a sense of what it actually meant to Prowl, at least to the more emotional parts of him. To be valued by his superiors in rank. To have work that had visible results, that gave Prowl patterns to work with, and most importantly, work that _used_ a processor that was capable of running the entire war for one side with little reliance on equipment.

Soundwave sent over his sense of understanding and empathy for the desires. ~Creating: does not fulfill processor cravings,~ he said, guessed. ~Prowl: has any ideas for that?~

~Nothing allowed,~ Prowl muttered with images of being a detective, planetary planner, search and rescue when it was needed, really any kind of high-level management.

Soundwave nodded. He remembered Starscream inquiring around about similar employment opportunities, vorns ago. He made a note that Prowl could see to join Red Alert in looking into a suitable position, before thinking of another question he had been considering. ~Query: if Starscream were to go away forever, how would Prowl feel?~

Relief and sadness flared up in equal measures, along with a whispered _no_.

Deep emotional attachment was still present despite the betrayal and pain that was also there. Soundwave recognized them all, and once more wondered at how open this normally nearly impossible to read mecha was without the tac-net active. Though the down side was that a huge portion of memories and protocols were also inaccessible. It made Prowl vulnerable to control, but only while it remained off.

~Conflicted,~ Prowl eventually answered.

Soundwave poked curiously at it, more than a little bewildered by the exhibited behaviors and how little they seemed to be indicative of what he witnessed in here. ~Prowl ... desires Starscream's presence, eventually?~ he asked.

The mental presence tried to shy away from the idea, _hurt_ dominating, still burning painfully from a rejection that Prowl could not make sense of, not even with his full tac-net engaged.

~Query: difference between: never seeing Starscream again, and Starscream being made to disappear?~ Soundwave asked, not comprehending.

~Starscream deactivated or not,~ Prowl could answer that more easily. In that Soundwave saw the effects of a long association with SpecOps from the war. ~He's not a physical danger.~

~Prowl: cares,~ Soundwave mused. ~Prowl's spark, or Prowl's processors?~

~Spark,~ came a quiet answer in a slightly different voice, a spark that was long accustomed to not being completely one with the frame it supported.

~Starscream: will remain safe,~ Soundwave promised. ~Even from himself.~ He sent a sense that he was repaying Prowl for his kindness and support of Red Alert.

 _Understanding-thanks_ came back, along with a sense of loyalty to Soundwave because Soundwave cared for and was good for Red Alert. It was nothing as strong as there was for Red Alert, but it was more than even most Autobots had earned.

~Why do you care for Red Alert?~ Prowl asked with a sort of youthful curiosity that didn't belong in a mecha his age.

Soundwave gave a pleased-affectionate burst of code when he thought about the carrier of his creation. ~Red Alert: gave me Securezo. Additionally: is empathetic to many mannerisms and processor-types. Red Alert ... is companion.~ The glyph he used was expansive, a mix of partner and mate and friend and ally. Red Alert was caring, and did not find him strange. Even Megatron, who valued him above all, found him strange.

~You are not strange.~ Prowl responded with some conviction. ~You have purpose and fulfill it. Our kind exist to perform a function and find satisfaction in it. Generalists don't understand. We aren't like them.~

~Agreed,~ Soundwave said, then hesitated. ~Prowl: is prepared for the tac-net? Or is life without: preferred?~

The question visibly startled Prowl enough that Red Alert tensed and scrambled to plug into his friend. "What's happening?"

~He asked if I wanted to exist without the tac-net,~ Prowl relayed, still trying to process the concept and where to even begin to determine the answer. He existed for the tac-net. It _was_ his function. Wasn't it? But with it shut off, as difficult as relearning how to function would be, existing didn't seem quite so grim a prospect.

~...Do you?~ Red Alert asked, giving Soundwave a worried glance. ~Is he capable of that?~ 

~Unknown,~ Soundwave said. ~Calculated risk: _[sufficient data unavailable]_.~

~I don't know,~ Prowl responded. ~It's ... what I'm for. What would I _do_ without it?~

~I could teach you about security,~ Red Alert said brightly.

Prowl turned that over as best he could, repeatedly frustrated by the reality that he'd been created with the tac-net and to use it as his primary decision maker. He eventually came back with a question for them. ~Would you want to be without your senses, or your telepathy and symbiots?~

Red Alert ducked his helm, glancing away. ~I would not survive without my senses,~ he said. 

~Nor Soundwave: without symbiots,~ Soundwave added, understanding. ~Tac-net: initiating.~

Prowl stiffened and gasped slightly as the power hungry monster inside him surged to life and all but dropped into stasis as the demand exceeded his expectations. Before either of the others could do much more than register the fact, Prowl had powered up two secondary plants and the tac-net's batteries dumped the needed charge into his system.

Even with Soundwave's best management, it was a shock to Prowl's frame. Red Alert had watched it from the outside several times as Ratchet had rebooted him, but never with a hardline to actually watch the reordering of processor priorities and the _relief_ Prowl felt when his processors began to behave the way they were meant to. It was more than a breem before Prowl had any capacity to deal with them, much less anything outside his frame, and by then his field was muted once more, but it wasn't the flatness of when the spark was completely locked away.

~It has been a while since I was aware and it was off,~ Prowl murmured, still a bit dazed by the shift.

~You are as you should be,~ Red Alert said, touching their helms together with a warm smile through his field. 

~Prowl: requires further assistance?~ Soundwave questioned, his interest in the systems unhidden.

~Negative. Does Soundwave have specific questions?~ Prowl offered.

Soundwave thought for a few moments. ~Previous answers: remain unchanged?~ he asked, while simultaneously sending exploratory lines of code forward, to get a better look at how the tac-net functioned. He found, much to his frustration, that it was nearly as well-locked a black box as the compliance code.

~Affirmative,~ Prowl responded, though there was a distinctly different flavor to it and to Soundwave's experienced assessment, the drive to carry was primarily from a form a compliance coding running inside the tac-net of all places. The spark was agreeable, but it was coded in Prowl to _want_ it. There too was a much stronger dislike of Starscream, but little clue as to why.

~Query,~ Soundwave said, picking at a line that indicated carrying as being as much of a purpose as tactical computations. ~Purpose of carrying as function?~

~Assumption: those who ordered me worried Vector Sigma would be lost soon. They ordered at least one batch of ultra-high performance mecha to serve as breeders for future Enforcers. It has been established here that my tac-net is passed on to varying degrees. What I am less sure of is why I was not entered into a breeding program after activation. Given Red Alert was undoubtedly ordered with the same intent as I and was also not entered into a breeding program on activation I have postulated that our respective glitches were undesirable enough at the time that we were placed into regular service instead.~

~Assumption: logical,~ Soundwave said. ~Dislike of Starscream: intensified with tac-net. Incongruity: spark was directly hurt and cared more. Reason?~ 

~His actions were enough to damage protocols and knock _me_ offline and he is utterly unpredictable. It makes him a danger to me,~ Prowl answered, and while it didn't show as an emotion, not exactly, the way the tac-net responded to such an unpredictable threat was as close to hate-fear as anything could get without emotions. 

~With offer of spark merge,~ Soundwave clarified. ~Reason to fear spark merge: pain intense enough to knock systems offline. Soundwave: is certain Starscream did not comprehend.~

~I know,~ Prowl grumbled. ~He comprehends _nothing_ and I seem to be little better at understanding him. It is a dangerous mix.~

~Agreed,~ Soundwave said, watching Red Alert squeeze Prowl's hand, listening silently. ~Soundwave: will take his leave. Soundwave: thanks Prowl for his honesty.~

~Prowl: thanks Soundwave for caring for Red Alert.~ Prowl replied before the connection was unplugged and he was left alone with his friend. ~How are you, Red Alert? It couldn't have been easy to rescue me.~

~I managed,~ Red Alert said, climbing into the berth with Prowl and snuggling up with him. ~Soundwave helped. You're going to stay here for now. It is more secure than that building you were living in.~

~It is,~ Prowl agreed, happy and feeling all the safer as he snuggled back, holding Red Alert close as he relaxed into much-needed recharge to continue the defrag his processors needed. ~I'll pay you rent.~

Red Alert smiled and nuzzled him. They both knew that Red Alert didn't need the rent, but that Prowl did need to pay it. ~Will you keep your own place, for when you're carrying?~ Red Alert asked.

Prowl actually hesitated, uncertain for a lingering moment. ~I believe I need to process that more. A great deal has changed in the last orn.~

~All right,~ Red Alert said. ~Recharge. It's safe here.~

Prowl cycled down further. ~You're always safe,~ he murmured, no longer that aware of much other than it was Red Alert next to him and Red Alert always protected him.

* * *

"Secureza," Red Alert said mildly as he came into the room holding two spiced, steeped cubes of energon. His creation was kicking his pedes on the ground and not paying much attention to the datapad set out in front of him. "Are you still working?"

"I'm bored, Red Alert," the seven vorn old sparkling huffed and looked up.

Red Alert handed one cube to Prowl as he sat next to him on the lounge. "Why don't you finish your work, and then tell us about your orn? Then you can go out with Rumble and Frenzy."

Secureza brightened at the prospect of time with the two bipedal cassettes and hurriedly went to work, well-focused again.

"Thank you," Prowl said as he held the cube in one hand and offered the other wrist so they could hardline. It wasn't that they didn't trust Soundwave, so much as it was habit and comfort to them both. Once connected, Prowl cupped the cube in both hands and sipped. ~It is interesting, to be around a sparkling. Easier than I believed it would be.~

~I think it helps that he's so independent,~ Red Alert said, leaning back and relaxing. ~I don't know how well I would have done if he was as clingy as some I've seen.~

~Agreed. Though if you think of his creators it makes sense he's independent, intelligent and focused. He will be an amazing addition to Soundwave's unit in a couple centuries.~ Prowl leaned lightly against his friend, his field full of warmth, thanks and contentment to simply be there. ~Has he shown any indication whether he will be a host or 'path of some kind?~

~He is frighteningly intuitive at times,~ Red Alert said. ~When I ask him how he knew something, he usually can't tell me. Sometimes he sees something in frame language, but I think there might be some 'path tendencies in there.~

~It is a range, everything from mild empathy that was common in Enforcers to the telepathy that hears _everything_ and can't be held back,~ Prowl hummed. ~Given the strength Soundwave has, it could be almost anywhere on that spectrum. It likely won't settle until his adult upgrades. His senses?~

Red Alert's field tinted with a little sadness, but he smiled nevertheless. ~Quite keen. I worry for him. We're keeping a close watch for any signs of obsession with his surroundings. So far he is all right.~

~It is a fine line between alert and obsessed,~ Prowl agreed. ~That is one area his coding will not help. You're both _very_ focused on security. There's nothing to mitigate the inclination. Secureza is better off than you though. He has creators who care about his quality of existence. It is not something I believe could be said about yours.~

Red Alert frowned slightly, then leaned against Prowl and slipped their free hands together, entwining their fingers. ~Nor yours.~ He lifted Prowl's hand to his mouth and kissed the back, sighing. ~Have you--~

"Done!" Secureza said, jumping up to his pedes and running over, looking eagerly at the two adults.

"Let me see," Red Alert said, letting go of Prowl's hand to accept the offered datapad, scrolling through the sparkling's work. "Very good," he said, and subspaced it. "Your sire will be very pleased. Tell us about your orn?"

As Secureza cheerfully began to ramble off about the minute details of his orn, Red Alert leaned back against Prowl. ~One of the ways we check up on him,~ he explained. ~Get his perception of daily routine without needing to hardline and invade. He doesn't like hardlining. One of the cassettes is tasked every orn with disrupting his routine in some way.~

~Do you know why he dislikes hardlining?~ Prowl asked, sure that wasn't normal, though it wasn't exactly abnormal either.

~He says he doesn't like how it feels to have someone else in his processors,~ Red Alert said. 

~Then not the reason I'm aggressive about it,~ Prowl hummed thoughtfully, listening and responding to Secureza but paying more attention to Red Alert. ~It could be many things, including nothing more than not being ready to keep himself separate from others yet. If he is a 'path, it could be very confusing. Has he shown any aversion to plugging into devices or AIs?~

~None so far, but I notice he will always choose to read something rather than plug in and download it,~ Red Alert said. ~I think that's just from association with the feeling of hardlining, though.~

Prowl nodded. ~Then so far it's nothing to worry about, but worthy of watching. Soundwave will have many advantages in watching for potential glitches before they become serious.~

Red Alert nodded as Secureza finished talking and waited eagerly. He smiled at the sparkling. "All right, you can go play." 

"Thank you!" Secureza said, running outside. 

Red Alert smiled after him, then shifted his attention inward. ~Have you thought about what you would like to do when you are carrying?~ he asked. ~And when you want company?~

~Having quarters of my own in the compound, or keeping my apartment and use it. Whichever is easier for you. The first is easier to keep me safe, but involves many visitors,~ Prowl offered both options for Red Alert to comment on.

~I...~ Red Alert said, wavering obviously between wanting to keep Prowl as safe as possible and the stress of new, regular visitors into his safe place. ~I don't suppose that the one-night visitors would submit to a full frame scan and background check first...?~

~That would be asking a bit much, my friend,~ Prowl said gently.

Red Alert sighed. ~Sires would be easier ... once I know they're safe they're fine for the full vorn and you'll make them agree to a check in the contract anyway, but, maybe, I could set one of the cassettes to alert me as soon as you're coming back with company and then I could do a quick check and we could create quarters for you to use specifically for them?~

~Red Alert, I would never try to bring someone here without warning you before I even went to find company,~ Prowl said firmly. He shifted to kiss Red Alert's forehelm and then resting his own against it. ~My investments are such that I can afford to build or renovate as we need to. We'll make something work for both of us. I can give you at least an orn or two notice before my charge gets to the point where I'm twitchy to do something about it. I'll warn you if we intend to do anything unusual.~

Red Alert relaxed marginally, looking into Prowl's optics and nodding. ~Unusual...?~ he asked.

~Bondage, overload denial, Dom/sub. My kinks are not damaging, but they can look unsettling at times,~ Prowl explained.

~Right, of course,~ Red Alert said. ~I will endeavor not to burst in and arrest your visitors mid, well, visit,~ he added with good humor.

~It would be much appreciated,~ Prowl replied, trying to sound bland but finding it too amusing to hide that over the hardline. ~It's unlikely to happen with a one-night visit, unless they're submitting. I have to trust a mecha enough before I enjoy submitting. Some sires might get there. I will tell you what to expect,~ he promised again.

~Thank you. Do you have a next sire in mind?~ Red Alert asked curiously. ~Will you carry with the same regularity?~

~I'm leaning towards Scrapper, Deadlock or Runabout and Runamuck, though I keep thinking of Soundwave though he has not asked.~

Red Alert perked. ~Soundwave is a good sire,~ he said. ~I watched all the recordings from when I was in stasis, he was very respectful and did everything as I instructed. Why Soundwave?~

~He's one of very few Decepticons I genuinely respect. He's been very good to both of us and he's taking good care of Secureza. I believe his contribution would be complimentary to any creation I carried.~ Prowl tried to summarize why, and beyond all that the hardline allowed the emotional connection, respect and understanding, a sense of kinship, to come through as well.

Red Alert pulsed his agreement with the assessment. ~Would you be able to handle seeing your own creation so frequently?~ he asked.

~I will not know until it happens, but I believe so. I do not hate my creations, and I now know that I can exist in relatively close quarters with a sparkling successfully. I simply lack the creator protocols to be a good caretaker for them,~ Prowl attempted to explain. ~My coding drove me to ensure others raised them so I could kindle again.~

Red Alert nodded, holding Prowl's hand in his own and idly tracing the palm. ~Will you carry with the same regularity?~

~Not quite so often,~ Prowl had decided, though he wasn't firm about it. ~Maybe every two or three vorns. Maybe four. I'm not sure how easy it would be, to really take my own spark. Even with the ownership of self you gave me, it's difficult to think as a free mecha.~

Red Alert averted his gaze. ~I wish you hadn't chosen me,~ he murmured. ~Is ... do you _like_ being in control?~

~It wasn't a conscious choice,~ Prowl promised. ~I don't know why it locked onto you. It shouldn't have by my understanding.~ Prowl went still for a while. ~No. I don't like it. I don't have the coding for it. I was meant to look to another for direction, no matter how limited. Someone to give me bounties and goals. I'm adapting.~

~I'm so sorry,~ Red Alert whispered, physically turning away. 

Prowl caught him and nudged him to face him. ~You did what you believed was best. Once I work out how to function like this, it might even be for the best. At least _someone_ will have the coding lock. It's been floating ever since Optimus Prime was deactivated.~

~Not--not even Starscream?~ Red Alert asked. 

~He led the assault on Praxus. Like Megatron, the coding labeled him an enemy of the state. It can never lock onto an enemy of the state, even if logic said it should,~ Prowl attempted to explain something he simply knew. ~If the coding hadn't labeled Megatron an enemy of Praxus it would have locked onto him once the Matrix of Leadership was destroyed and I surrendered. As the new ruler of Cybertron, he should have been my new leader. If Praxus had survived, he would have been.~

Red Alert nodded his understanding and leaned back against his friend. ~Guess this really isn't what we thought we'd get when we signed up,~ he said.

~No, I don't suppose it is,~ Prowl agreed. ~What did you expect, if anything?~

~Death,~ Red Alert said with a short laugh. ~But maybe ... fixing things, _really_ fixing things.~

~About the same. Though I signed up with an agreement that the Prime would grant me deactivation when the war was over. Then Optimus became Prime and I knew within a metacycle he would never honor the contract I had with Sentinel Prime. Now there will never be a Prime again. Now ... I don't even need one.~ Prowl barely whispered the last thought, fully expecting the compliance coding to lash out at him for it, but it remained quiet.

~This is a strange life we've stumbled into,~ Red Alert said, reaching up to stroke Prowl's helm. ~At least it isn't punishing you for things you can't control.~

~Agreed,~ Prowl signed and leaned into the touch. ~I feel very unqualified to function in this new existence we have. I'm glad you're part of it though.~

~So am I, my friend,~ Red Alert said, bringing Prowl's head to rest under his chin.


	13. A Creation Out of Desire

Soundwave walked into Prowl's new quarters, looking around appreciatively at all the security he could see had gone into the design. That would have been Red Alert, who insisted on the space having multiple entrances and exits. The main entryway led directly off the grounds, for Prowl to bring visitors by. The second exit was more secure and led into the grounds, but could only be controlled by Red Alert, and any he gave temporary permissions to. It kept visitors from needing to or even being able to cross into Red Alert's safe space. 

Both of them were waiting inside, and when Soundwave came around the corner, gestured for him to come sit. "Soundwave's presence: was requested," the host said.

"Affirmative," Prowl said as they sat down. "Red Alert and I have discussed who to offer my next contract to, and though you did not ask for it, I have decided to offer the right of first refusal for my fifth carry to you."

Soundwave cycled his visor. "Query: why?" he asked, as he began mulling over the possibilities.

"There are several reasons. Primarily Red Alert is concerned about my next carry given how the last one ended. He believes you are an exceptional sire who would have better than average concern for my survivability. For myself, you are of high rank and income, display an excellent grasp of when to spend your income freely and when to save, are intelligent, of better than average frame quality and possess both coding and traits that would mix well with mine. I will admit curiosity as to whether the host trait can be passed on," Prowl outlined his major reasons.

Soundwave looked at him silently for a klik or so as he continued to process, then inclined his helm. "Soundwave: agrees with assessment," he said. "Prowl: has a standard contract available?"

Prowl handed it over. It took Soundwave little more than a glance to recognize the changes from the standard Prowl had used so far. This one contained a modification of the status of the carrier, indicating that Prowl was willing to acknowledge and help raise the creation such as he was able so long as he resided in Soundwave's compound. That had been his primary concern for conflict with both carrier and creation in the same household, and he was pleased to see the Praxian had already solved it. "Prowl: has specific desire for location of interfacing?" he asked, looking up.

"My quarters," Prowl answered easily. "Does Soundwave have any preferences for interfacing in general?"

"Negative," Soundwave said. "Single concern: satisfying creator code."

"Understood and acceptable. Do you have any concerns with Red Alert joining us for recharge after we have satisfied the creator coding demands and cleaned up?" Prowl asked.

Next to him, Red Alert straightened a little, definitely interested in the answer. "Soundwave: has none whatsoever," the host said, and it was almost possible to imagine warmth in his voice.

"Good," Prowl did smile with warmth in his voice and field. "Are there any terms in the contract or not in it you wish to discuss?"

Soundwave read the entire thing again, partially just to admire the skill that had gone into writing it that he knew many would not appreciate, then hummed a negative tone. "Prowl: has predicted Soundwave's wishes quite adeptly."

A light flutter of doorwings backed up the pleasure-pride that Soundwave could pick up without even teeking the Praxian. It gave Soundwave little doubt that he was among only a handful of individuals whose opinions genuinely mattered to Prowl.

"Do you wish to accept the contract?" Prowl asked with a touch of formality.

"Soundwave: wishes so," the host said, bowing his helm. "Prowl: my carrier."

"Soundwave: my sire," Prowl agreed and extended his hand for the contract so he could write in all they had spoken of before he signed it, locking the legal datapad from any further changes and handed it back to Soundwave to sign.

Soundwave reviewed once more, nodded his satisfaction, and signed his full, legal designation to the document. "Cassettes: will be displeased," he said, sounding amused.

"Why?" Prowl was unabashedly curious.

Soundwave put a hand over his chest, where his symbiots resided above his spark. "Soundwave: blocks bond when merging, interfacing. Cassettes: do not enjoy the block." 

Red Alert chuckled knowingly. "Be ready for glares." 

"They will endure and enjoy the results in a vorn," Prowl countered, though it wasn't an argument so much as a fact.

Soundwave hummed his agreement and gradually shifted the conversation around to the government and the state of their planet, as eager as always for intelligent opinions.

* * *

Soundwave arrived at Prowl's residence at the precise time indicated, with both high grade and toys tucked into his subspace, just in case. He did not expect problems, but he knew that sometimes other interface-driven mecha anticipated such things, even though all Prowl had asked for was a spark merge. Red Alert had assured him he would not need anything, but Soundwave liked to be prepared. He was sure that even if not needed, Prowl would appreciate the effort and thus would make the newspark more partial to Soundwave before it emerged.

He chimed at the door that not even he could access, despite it being within his own estate. He heard it unlock--Red Alert's doing--and he walked in. He'd seen the plans for this space before it had been built. It was on his estate, and though Red Alert controlled it and Prowl designed and paid for it, they had both sought his approval before anything was ordered. The pair were as respectful to him as he was to them, and Soundwave appreciated it. 

The plans gave no real hint of the luxury, history or thought that had gone into this room. Soundwave had expected the shuttle-former sized berth with deep cushions and fine mesh coverings. He'd picked up long ago that Prowl had few vices, but indulged what he had shamelessly within his means. What he had not expected, but belatedly realized he should have, was the impressive collection of pre-war art, bookfiles and crystalline aesthetics on display. Almost all were items Soundwave recognized from the inventory of Prowl's quarters in Iacon and many he knew pre-dated the Golden Age. A few others he recognized as finds that neutrals brought in and Prowl had purchased. While the grand painting that dominated one wall was of Praxus was old and no doubt created by one of the master painters of its subject matter, the statuary was highly stylized, post-war and decidedly erotic in design. The open display of toys and interface aids inside a berthside stand with glass doors stood out for its limited artistic value.

The room viewed and recorded, Soundwave's optics locked onto Prowl. The Praxian was polished and relaxing on the berth in what Soundwave knew was an invitation to interface, a pose that most would deem erotic. He was watching Soundwave study this environment he had created with a mixture of pride in it and nervousness for what they both knew it said about him.

"Is Soundwave ready?" Prowl asked with a sultry, eager purr that echoed as genuine desire in his mind.

"Sounwave: is eager," the host said, making a slow approach to the berth. He didn't scan deeply, but he made no effort to avoid reading what Prowl had at the surface of his thoughts. The flask of high grade was pulled and set on top of the stand, and Soundwave was glad he'd picked a classic, antiquated vase. He climbed onto the berth and knelt near Prowl, head tilted. "Prowl: gives permission to touch?"

"Affirmative," Prowl's field reached out to caress Soundwave's, eager to kindle, eager for pleasure, eager for _Soundwave_. It was a strange sensation for the telepath, who could count on one hand the number of times he'd felt desire for _him_ in another. Some desired him for his power or his abilities, but so very few looked at him and saw an attractive mecha. Soundwave took few lovers, and only out of necessity. Each one took time to learn and please, and Prowl would be no different. Starting with typical motions and seeing how he reacted, and feeling from there.

Soundwave's field caressed back, smiling through his field, and leaned in to brush his mask against Prowl's lips while setting a single hand on his thigh. Prowl kissed the smooth metal and spread his legs a bit further in invitation with a surge of arousal in his field. Strong white hands slid along Soundwave's shoulders, then traced the edge of the glass of his cassette case.

"Does Soundwave wish to be lovers for the contract?" Prowl asked, just barely holding back his excitement at the prospect. The differences between how most treated him and what _lover_ meant were easy to sense. As far as Soundwave could work out, it was the difference between duty and desire, but also in whether Prowl was reciprocating or simply receiving.

Soundwave mulled it over for a few moments. He'd never been driven in this manner the way the majority of his species seemed to be, but it would be nice to feel someone caring for his frame again, and he was sure Prowl would allow changes to their agreement later if there was something to dislike about the experience. "Soundwave: is willing to try," he said, pressing Prowl back to the berth.

Prowl went willingly, relaxed and compliant and eager as his field and processors surged with anticipation. He continued to explore Soundwave's upper frame without contesting where he was placed. Just the position, on his back, legs spread and a strong mecha between them sent surges of anticipatory pleasure through him and he tilted his helm to kiss Soundwave's neck cabling since kissing wasn't possible.

Soundwave hummed in pleasure, a monotone sound that echoed through his entire frame. His hands mapped Prowl's chest and sides, paying particular attention to the seams that would help to pull the armor aside and reveal the near-white spark. As with most mecha, it was a hot spot and drew a deep rumbling moan, but with Prowl the click of locks coming open read as a conditioned, all but coded response, rather than one of readiness.

~Breeder,~ he sent directly into Prowl's processors. It was something he'd long known about the mech but was getting to experience for himself, and just what it meant, for the first time. He tilted his helm up for Prowl's mouth and his frame moved in small, even rocks that brushed their hips together.

Prowl barely startled before his valve cover snapped open with a nearly painful rush of _want-need-YES_ crashing through him that did nothing but arouse the Praxian and signaled that he was ready even though Soundwave knew it wasn't completely true. He was ready enough, but not _ready_.

Thankfully, Soundwave was in no great hurry and relaxed down, not allowing any of his covers back as he traded with Prowl to nuzzle against his neck, keeping his hands decidedly above Prowl's waist. One went up to a doorwing to play while the other continued to circle the center of his chest. Prowl continued to touch as well, making no effort to reach beyond what was offered. One leg slid up to curl around Soundwave's hip as Prowl continued to rock lightly against him and moaned decadently in the surging sensations he was being given.

Thick black and white armor cracked open at the continued stimulation, bathing Soundwave's chest and hand in brilliant ice blue light. The host hummed with pleasure. He could well understand how Starscream had become so completely enthralled with this spark. It felt _powerful_. 

He wanted Prowl well and truly revved up and wanting when he took him in both spark and frame, so Soundwave slipped both hands down to explore the offered opening, dipping in further as it continued to part. Fingers touched crystal and he felt as much as heard Prowl keen with growing need as his helm snapped back. If there's been any doubt that the breeder enjoyed sparkplay, this ended it. Genuine arousal began to burn though Prowl and washing over Soundwave with every nanoklik the contact with Prowl's spark chamber continued.

With that set in motion Soundwave allowed his spike to extend one eighth of its length before locking it and pushing in. He held in place, refusing to go any deeper than the shallow, teasing depth. A low, near-sob of _want_ escaped Prowl at the penetration and zaps of pleasure it generated in him with every little motion and squeeze he made in an effort to encourage his lover to sink in deeper. Just in the time between the first touch of spike and rim to now Soundwave could perceive the increased slickness as well as the drop in coding driving the frame's responses in favor of pleasure-driven arousal.

Satisfied with his progress, he set his spike to extend at a speed of no greater than .09% of total length per klik and began to pulse his hips in shallow thrusts. He could feel the frustration and want growing beneath him as the kliks went by, as he offered Prowl very little real sensation. 

When he spike was 29% buried, he gave a harder thrust and initiated the complicated transformation sequence required to bring his spark into view. Prowl responded to both without thinking, but with completely lust-driven intent. His armor parted fully as his other leg came up to hook around Soundwave's hip. The energy of his spark uncurled around Soundwave's hand, dancing and crackling as the chamber opened. It was enough to tell Soundwave that while Prowl's spark and processors were as integrated as they'd ever been, the disconnect between them was still strong.

The frame was molten with arousal, wanting to be taken and filled, and while the spark was anticipating the merge it wasn't nearly as lost to the prospect yet. It was a curious sensation, particularly, Soundwave expected, for a telepath. He was uniquely suited through both experience and his gift to sense mecha as their full selves, and incongruities were usually minor. In Prowl, however, it was a startling gap. The only way to coax the spark, though, was to merge with it, and so Soundwave spiraled his crystal open and lowered his chest. ~Hello,~ he whispered across the forming threads.

~Soundwave,~ the spark purred back, eager, welcoming, pleased with the promise of supporting a new life again and that the sire was an easy one to get along with. Unlike the processors, which were naturally guarded to the point of paranoia, the spark was almost innocently young despite what it had endured. The loss of lovers, of home, of supposed function, the war and four creations had barely left a shadow in it, while the processors still hadn't grappled with the loss of Praxus yet. In many ways, it made this spark better than most to nurture the next generation, as it had little pain to pass on.

Soundwave idly wondered if the processors had protected it so on purpose, or if it had just been a fortunate accident. ~Do you wish you carry my creation?~ he asked.

~Yes,~ it pulsed the reply strong enough to cause Soundwave's circuits to tingle. ~Yes, more than the others.~

~Why?~ Soundwave asked as he explored as deeply as Prowl would allow him and found the spark as open as it felt, but the processors watching warily. He could feel echoes of several losses here that he hadn't felt in the processors, tasting like cold, distant stars, and the sharp, bitter sting of a rushing wind that promised the chill had only just begun.

~You're nice,~ it responded, and the instant the thought formed memories of Starscream's rejection burst brightly across the spark's awareness and it scrambled back from the connecting awareness, but not from the merge itself.

Soundwave knew without even reading the spark that it was expecting a repeat despite the nearly audible snort from the tac-net at how ridiculous the reaction was.

Instead, he only strengthened the intensity of how much he desired this, pushed forward how pleased he was with the creation of Red Alert, how happy he knew it would make Secureza to have a sibling of similar creation. He would not pull away, he would not reject. Soundwave desired to create with this spark, in this moment, above all others.

It was enough to reassure and the spark's awareness pressed forward again, shaken by its own reaction. ~You're like us,~ it expanded on the explanation from before with a clear image of Red Alert. ~Created for a purpose, shaped by coding and gifted to enhance your value in functioning. You understand what it means to be among the most tightly controlled of pre-programmed mecha and content with your existence. Your spark is strong. We'll have very strong, stable creations.~

~I think so,~ Soundwave agreed, his spark shimmering with the joy of being with another spark who understood what it was to be sparked into such a frame. More and more, he was starting to settle into the idea of a life with Prowl and Red Alert, and it felt good to imagine. He'd courted Red Alert to be a life companion, and he knew that Prowl's presence would never take that away, but only add to it.

~Agreed,~ Prowl's spark pulsed towards the thought. ~You are good for him and do not mind what we are to him. We never want to take what is good for him away.~ There was a bit of a pause, a hesitant mulling over of other parts of the thoughts. ~I think we would all like to be together.~ With that idea, _together_ formed clearly in the same kind of together than Prowl and Red Alert were. Often sharing the same berth, physical closeness and touches of affection, but not the interfacing that Red Alert and Soundwave were not partial to. A platonic triad. Brothers by choice.

~I would enjoy that,~ Soundwave said. ~Red Alert would enjoy that. The three of us would be very strong together. Such a union could only serve to help Cybertron. I have a voice that can speak for all of us.~

~We would be,~ the spark agreed, and Soundwave could feel and sense that the processors were agreeable to the idea as well. ~Your voice would be much stronger for our assistance. Cybertron would be stronger for hearing what we know.~

The thrill of having the trust and access of these processors made Soundwave nearly giddy. He knew just what strength and intelligence was there to be harvested. Prowl's spark was hot against his. ~ _Create_ with me,~ Soundwave whispered, and the vision of a gleaming Cybertron, a home for their creation, filled his awareness.

Prowl moaned, physically and emotionally, at the image and request. He sank wordlessly into merge, joyful at the idea of creating with a spark that valued him as more than a carrier. His spark pulsed as it swelled, knowing the rhythm of creation well and relishing a spark that also knew what to do. 

It was easy, after that, when the energies slammed together and pooled in the willing spark's frame, settling into an almost undetectable mote. Soundwave could feel the spark's joy in the bliss-filled moments before they parted, right before he felt the frame's triggered overload. Prowl keened as energy crackled through him, across his plating and into his lover, every molecule of himself given to the experience he had been designed, crafted, created and summoned for.

Soundwave pushed into the wave of overload with his frame, using Prowl's pleasure to fully expand his spike as he paid attention to the rest of the frame and its needs. Prowl had experienced a full frame overload, but Soundwave fully intended to drive him to another. He would prove himself a worthy sire and lover. 

Interfacing was all about building up charge until the frame could no longer absorb it, triggering a rushing release through every system. How fast the charge built, and how it was created, were the primary variables in satisfaction. For Soundwave, it was an easy calculation to make and perform. With half his attention on Prowl's awareness for something to do as much as for the information, he grabbed Prowl's hands and pinned them to the berth. The nearly painful surge of arousal that followed was enough to draw a low rumbling moan from them as Prowl gasped. It didn't take long after that for Prowl to scream into his second overload, the sound made sweet by the kink-driven arousal behind it.

Soundwave hummed, his charge noticeable now as he continued to thrust into the crackling frame. It felt good, even if it wasn't worth the energy it took if the pleasure was the only purpose. This, though, was proving a point and he had to admit that pleasuring a breeder in the grip of creation protocols was very pleasurable indeed. He continued to thrust, each movement with the singular purpose of driving the charge up in Prowl as high and fast as possible. With the frame's fourth crackling release Soundwave felt himself shudder and lose track of everything for a few nanokliks as his frame surrendered to the building charge. He was aware again in plenty of time to actually feel the intensity of the breeder's frame to transfluid being pumped into it. It was a rush strong enough to draw a moan of satisfaction from him.

It was only after their frames were cooled and clean that Red Alert slipped in and crawled into the berth with them, pressing against Prowl's back to recharge. It was a scene and mingling of fields and processors that Soundwave found soothing, enthralling and found himself very determined to keep.

* * *

Soundwave was standing by his helm, at his side, unlike his previous sires. It was a changed noted but not commented on by Scalpel and a change that Prowl took a kind of comfort from that he didn't understand and didn't try to. Because he was going to live in the compound with Wavelength, he was going to try to mimic what normal carriers did after separation and hold him, let him lay on his chest. He had no idea how it was going to work and every few kliks that passed by felt his unease rise, only to be gently forced down by the telepath next to him.

There were, undoubtedly, benefits to having Soundwave as both sire and companion, and Prowl was hoping that the routines they had found together would not vanish with the separation of this creation. 

Red Alert was monitoring from afar, knowing that he would be unable to handle the stress of a separation chamber with one he cared so deeply about. Prowl had an open comm link to him, though it was silent for the moment as the security specialist monitored the estate and everything in and around it. 

"You should be about ready to start the last sequence," Scalpel said as he checked on his readings.

"This one is aggressive," Prowl warned him. "He may not comply with orders to remain still until I am ready."

"Understood," Scalpel said cheerfully. "At least we won't have the same problems we did with that last one, huh?" He chuckled. "Surprised that Autobot didn't gut you himself."

"I was rather surprised as well. I did not expect that I was still covered by his battle medic protocols." Prowl winced slightly as Wavelength shifted and made his impatience known with both a sharp chirp and prodding at the almost-light reaching him. "Not the same problems, but possibly similar results."

"Gotcha," Scalpel said as he held his hand over Prowl's open abdomen, a move designed to both block some of the light and potentially soothe the sparkling and also to read the small field. "Ah, hello," he said, and then a small hand clawed its way up to grab onto one of his fingers and pull. The field was strong, almost forceful for one so young. The frame wasn't a weakling's either.

Scalpel immediately reached in to do what he could to hold Wavelength still, and then Soundwave's hand joined, his field thrumming out with a calm, forceful order. 

_Stay._

The sparkling stilled.

~Thank you,~ Prowl put the thought in the forefront of his mind with intent for Soundwave to read it as his frame groaned in objection to the pain and discomfort oozing through it and the occasional sharp spikes. He'd known before it had even begun that Wavelength would damage him. The sparkling was erratic and impatient even as a newspark, but Prowl suspected that it was so different from its creators because it was a strong 'path and picking up too much with neither the maturity nor hardware to help it filter. It would soon be possible to tell if his deduction was correct.

Wavelength twitched and chirped, chirring and clicking a wide range of vocalizations both with and without direct meanings, but he obeyed his sire's demand and allowed almost the entire breem Prowl's frame required to accommodate his exit.

At that point not even Soundwave could still him and the noise that came out was filled with frustration that turned into anger and Wavelength wrenched his frame about, squirming and struggling. He was strong enough to tear the wires in his way and bend what little plating remained aside, and then Scalpel had his hands around the squirming creature and was pinning his arms as he hurried to sever the last remaining connections manually, lest they be pulled out and do more damage than a clean cut.

Prowl remained stoically quiet through the process, offering only an occasional grunt or stutter of vents in comment to what all three watching knew must be a significant amount of pain. Yet when Scalpel had the sparkling wiped off enough he wouldn't slide around, Prowl reached for him.

The sparkling immediately stopped squirming, chirped, and held his arms out in response. Scalpel set him carefully down near the top of Prowl's chest, almost on his neck, and looked at Soundwave. "Make sure he doesn't crawl back in, yeah? That'd be unfortunate for everyone." 

Wavelength snuggled against Prowl's platting, newly onlined vocalizer emitting a steady, pleased chirr.

Prowl placed a hand carefully over the small frame that had just come out of him and searched for any protocols that might activate. Anything that would tell him that this being was more important to him than another. He couldn't find it in himself to be surprised when nothing came, but he felt some relief that he didn't feel any desire to push the small being away either. If he'd responded as he had to Krieger it would have created problems.

He could, at a minimum, tolerate this being. In time he may learn to like him as he had learned to like Red Alert, Soundwave and others. For now, at least he could handle him.

::How do you feel?:: Red Alert asked, the first he'd spoken since separation had begun some thirteen joors previous. Scalpel was already elbow deep in his abdomen, working to repair the damage Wavelength had done before it got out of hand.

::Tired, relieved, looking forward to my frame being mine again. Nothing went critically wrong. I feel nothing for Wavelength,:: he answered, his warm tone underlying the almost clinical reply.

::You are safe and well,:: Red Alert hummed happily, the point that he was concerned with. ::The estate is secure. You are safe,:: he repeated. 

::Yes, I am safe, my love,:: Prowl murmured in reply, using the same platonic variant Red Alert used with him. ::I know you will always keep me safe, even from myself when I need it. Safe, and tired. I would recharge now.::

Scalpel glanced up at that, not from hearing the comm but being cued into signs from the frame. ::It is safe to recharge,:: Red Alert said. ::I'll be there when you boot.:: 

The sparkling was lifted from his chest, giving a displeased, anxious, and almost angry chirp. When he could no longer reach Prowl, he started to twist in Scalpel's hands, reaching around to try to fight him off. 

Soundwave quickly swooped in and took his struggling creation. "Wavelength: will meet cassettes," he said, getting the sparkling's attention. The host gave a satisfied hum before looking at Prowl. "Prowl: rest."

"I will," Prowl murmured, already half shut down. "Take care," he added, a mark of how much Soundwave had earned in the last two vorns.

"Soundwave: will take care," the host promised, warmed and once again a bit giddy that he had two such fine processors as companions.

* * *

Soundwave mulled over the past century. Much had changed in so little time. The war was over. The revolution had won, utterly and completely. The new government was stable and Kaon was flourishing to the point that there were whisperings that Vos would be rebuilt soon as the second capitol. The majority of carriers had created once, and a few had even produced a second. It was a huge boon to the population.

Of course, the greatest boon to the population was Prowl, who'd brought twenty-eight healthy creations into the world, including the heir to the empire. It was both a pleasing and sad thing for Soundwave. He knew how good it was to fulfill one's function, yet he knew that even at a third of the rate he'd originally intended, Prowl would wear his spark and frame to the point of failure far too soon. It was too soon to know how long his brilliant companion would have, only that it would be a relatively short existence.

The greatest boon to Soundwave was that he now had _two_ companions who understood him more intimately than even Megatron did. Two mecha who did not think him strange. Two who had willingly carried his creations and tried, despite the lack of coding, to be a presence in their existences. As difficult as it was for Wavelength to keep himself separate from Secureza's active imagination at first, once the sparkling had a basic grasp of how to separate himself from what he was picking up from others, the young telepath had become indispensable in helping both Secureza and Red Alert avoid the worst effects of their glitches.

Wavelength was very much Soundwave's creation. While Secureza took after his carrier, Wavelength had indeed become what his carrier hoped for. A telepathic host.

It had actually been his younger sparkling who'd prompted him to take action in regard to the legalities tying him, Prowl, and Red Alert. His second sparkling--soon to be youngling--had asked him why the other two adults who called the estate their permanent home thought so often about each other, Soundwave, and the future. Wavelength had gone on to describe something which he had clearly not fully understood, but which Soundwave was completely familiar with: a legal binding. 

It was something Soundwave thought of often as well, but he knew how to shield his thoughts from the fledgling telepath that reflexively looked at thoughts as easily as most mecha looked at frames. It seemed that now was the time to offer it to his companions, to formalize what they all knew was true.

Per tradition, the ranking mecha among a group who wished to choose such a path had to be the one to initiate. It was an old, finicky bit of tradition, but Soundwave's lifemates, as he thought of them, would both need to follow it. They understood his coding demands just as he understood theirs.

He'd waited until Prowl was through with his most recent carry, for some grounder grunt, and fully recovered before calling them to his private quarters. It was a space that few saw, even the two mecha who were now sitting with him, equidistant from each other and him. "Prowl, Red Alert: thank you," he said. 

"What do you wish to discus?" Prowl asked. Always the leader between the pair. Despite the blunt wording, there was hope, fear and curiosity there.

Soundwave reached out and touched Prowl's thoughts, something that the Praxian had not felt invaded by for a long time, as long as the telepath moved slowly and broadcast his intentions. 

_Hope_ was the first emotion he felt, strong, and it was for the reasons Soundwave had summoned it. Beneath it was a darker tint of fear that he was completely mistaken, and that something was very wrong. Curiosity came at the end, more mild than the other two but the bright note that intelligent processors produced. 

"Soundwave: wishes to discuss legal arrangements with Prowl and Red Alert," he said. "Legal arrangements: for us." 

Both mechs perked up at that and the _hope_ shined brightly in both of them.

"You are ready, to formally acknowledge us as kin?" Prowl asked, his doorwings quivering with pent up emotion.

"Affirmative," Soundwave said. "Soundwave: wishes a full and equal legal binding." 

"Red Alert has long hoped for such a thing," Red Alert said, unable to hide his smile. 

"As have I," Prowl didn't hide his purr and it was very clear to Soundwave that it was mostly about knowing Red Alert would be cared for, but there was no missing that Prowl was happy for himself as well. The mech loved formalities, contracts and rules like few others. "May we see the terms?"

In response, Soundwave pulled out a pair of identical documents and handed one to each of them. It was long and thorough, with Soundwave agreeing to officially split their combined network amongst all three. They would each claim rights of ownership and care over the other two, the juvenile creations Soundwave had and the cassettes, plus every other legal benefit that could come from such a binding. It was immensely complex given the wealth of two members, Soundwave's political standing and the fact that there were dependents and a host involved.

The document, however, was far from complete. There were still terms to be set, ones to be discussed as a unit. 

Prowl and Red Alert were all but radiating excitement, but the pair also dropped into the serious work mode when they went to work processing and writing copious notes about desires and concerns.

"A very good foundation," Prowl commented as he worked, a vocal bit of praise that he gave rarely.

"Soundwave: thanks Prowl," Soundwave said, truly honored by the assessment. "Prowl, Red Alert: desire changes?" 

"No changes," Red Alert said. "What of berth mates?" he asked, looking mostly at Prowl. "I would like to at least know who you are interfacing with, formally."

"Always," Prowl promised as he quickly entered the terms from the existing relationship contract he had with Red Alert. "Is that satisfactory?"

"Yes," Red Alert gave him a smile.

"I would like a formal notation that this is not an exclusive interfacing arrangement," Prowl said, most of what he wanted already written out by the time he'd finished speaking. He'd thought long and hard about how to structure this document and how to make it stand up to all legal challenges. "Do you wish control of my breeding rights?"

Soundwave hummed thoughtfully. "Soundwave: would like at least one orn to research potential sire. Followed by: at least twenty kliks to voice opinion." 

"I think the choice should stay yours, though," Red Alert said. "As long as you've heard us out fairly." 

"Agreed," Prowl rapidly added the conditions. "I will continue to have multiple offers for each sparkling for the next several centuries. Selecting the best among them is a good reason for study and discussion. I rarely have any emotional attachment to the mecha I select."

There was a beat of silent, and then Red Alert spoke up quietly. "If ... I should become too damaged by an episode, to the point where I am unable to communicate rationally, your decision for my fate is one that medics must follow. I don't want to exist locked in a glitch, even if the frame is physically living."

"I understand," Prowl reached out to squeeze his hand in support. "I will not force you to continue if you are no longer capable of functioning." He paused, considering the agreement he'd had with Red Alert that had already been breached. "Soundwave, I must count on you to uphold my final wishes, particularly against Ratchet. He has already ignored them once. I have no doubt he would again."

"Soundwave: understands," the host promised with an uneasy sensation in his tanks. Fighting Ratchet over the fate of a patient was a legendary event. To his knowledge, no one currently functioning had succeeded in forcing him to stop.

"Good." Prowl organized his processors and thoughts, tore them away from a defining moment in his relationship with the medic and began entering the details. "If I am aware but too damaged in processors or frame to function as an Enforcer and carrier as I do now, I wish to extinguish. If I do not have enough processor left to be aware but my frame and spark are functional as a carrier, choose for the good of Cybertron. I will no longer care."

"Soundwave: understands and accepts," Soundwave murmured as he added both clauses, and then a similar one for himself, but paused before it was finished. "Should cassettes survive any trauma to Soundwave: he is to remain online so long as they are functioning and wish it."

His companions nodded even as the thought distressed them both greatly. There was no doubt in either of them, or in Soundwave after feeling them, that they would comply no matter how upsetting it was to them.

"What is the history of cassettes being able to transfer to a new host?" Prowl asked cautiously.

"History: short and full of much speculation and little evidence," Soundwave said. "Wavelength: might be able to care for cassettes. Consensus to try or refuse: must be unanimous among all cassettes."

"Wavelength must be willing to take them in as well," Prowl said quietly, keenly aware that his fifth creation was a fiercely independent being. "If it comes to pass, all will make an informed decision together."

Soundwave nodded, watching as the changes to his document updated automatically as they were added, and then once they had the approval from all three authors integrated as a permanent addition. " Prowl, Red Alert: desire clauses pertaining to raising of creations?"

"Only if you have been disabled or deactivated," Prowl answered. "Emotional connection is very limited."

"Same for me," Red Alert said. "Though I'd like to be told about anything medical pertaining to Secureza." 

Soundwave inclined his helm and added the clause. It wasn't as if either was not completely up to date about both creations and would not continue to be. This was just legal protections and obligations. Something to fall back on if things became difficult. A common ground they had all agreed on to work from.

"Will there be any issues with my continued patrolling, gambling or racing?" Prowl asked.

"Not at all," Red Alert said, as Soundwave emitted a tone of agreement. "What about ... we want to be available, for you, if you need it?" 

"Prowl: built to crave interface," Soundwave said. "Soundwave and Red Alert: can offer reasonable and safe companions should need go unmet."

They both felt how startled Prowl was at it, then the mixture of annoyance and warmth at the offer. "I survived well enough for over six centuries without any interfacing and little time to self-service. The few orns it might take to find an acceptable partner will never harm me. There are at least thirty that have passed scrutiny in the city at any given time." He reached out to grip their hands, one in each of his. "Thank you for thinking of me, but there is no need to push yourselves so far outside your comfort zone for it. Unless I'm carrying your creation, of course," he purred slightly at those memories of Soundwave's abilities and made no secret in his mind that with this agreement, Soundwave would have more creations if he wanted them once the current one was mature.

"We just want to make sure you're comfortable and happy," Red Alert said with a smile, squeezing back. "Just because you _can_ go six centuries doesn't mean you should have to. Even if it doesn't go in officially, it's still an offer."

"Soundwave: agrees. Interfacing with Prowl: enjoyable for interfacing," Soundwave added. He wasn't looking forward to doing it, but this mech mattered to him.

Prowl lifted each hand to his lips, his field flushed with warmth at their care. "Thank you. I will never ask it of you, for the same reason you have offered. But while we are on the topic of things we are not completely compatible with, is there anything I do, or do not do, that makes either of you uncomfortable?"

"Negative," Soundwave said, while Red Alert flicked his armor in agreement. 

"There should be a safe space," Red Alert said, looking between them. "Where any of us can speak freely to the others about anything."

Prowl hummed in agreement. "A safe _place_ or safe _glyph?_ "

Red Alert cocked his helm. "Glyph, and place. A glyph to stop whatever is going wrong. A place to actually speak."

"Agreed," Prowl said, even though he was hard pressed to come up with an event that would cause it. "Do you expect something to cause this need, or is it just in case?"

"Just in case," Red Alert said, and offered a smile. "It is always good to have a safe space you know you can reach easily."

"Agreed," Prowl stroked his hand with a thumb.

"Agreed." Soundwave added as he typed in the terms. "Red Alert: Select glyph desired."

Red Alert thought about it for a few moments, then looked between them and murmured an old Praxian glyph, "Triad." 

"Choice: appropriate," Soundwave said.

"Accepted," Prowl said, though there was a slight warble in his voice at the realization that Red Alert knew such an obscure tidbit from Prowl's home city. "Did you learn that from me?"

"You know, I can't remember where I learned it anymore," Red Alert said with a wry smile. "Probably lost that in an episode." 

"Is safe location: specific?" Soundwave asked. "Alternatively: wherever safe glyph is spoken. Or: speaker may choose a location."

"A location. One created for just that. Not used for anything else." Red Alert barely had to consider it. "Alternative: if location unreasonable to retreat to, location is chosen by speaker when it is called."

"Agreed," Soundwave said as Prowl entered the clause and all three signed off on it.

Within a joor, a legal triad had been created. 


	14. Creations Not to Raise

As abnormal as most would have found the strange trio's fully legal and binding relationship, Prowl found it just the opposite. He was content with his life and had two caring lifemates who supported and accepted him and his choices the way very few ever had. They understood his need to carry and his desire to do so as frequently as he did, and had only ever helped him with his choices. The current one of which was lying on his back, grinning up at him as he fastened the second set of handcuffs. 

Skywarp was lying on his wings, wrists cuffed to the corners of the berth, field eager. "So you promise you're gonna undo those later, yeah?" he asked, completely relaxed. He'd even been the one to propose this much to Prowl's delight. Prowl was sure it came from seeing him dominate others in one of the clubs that Prowl frequented when he wasn't carrying to find berthmates.

"Before I pass out," Prowl promised, his field just as eager. It was incredibly rare for him to find a sire that enjoyed submission, though only time would tell if the sire protocols made Skywarp too protective to enjoy this. He slid a hand down the sleek black and silver frame as he crawled onto the large flier-grade berth. It was built with a trine in mind, though Skywarp had assured him that the others had their own berthrooms in the apartment and it was Starscream's room that they gathered in when they were all together.

Dark, nimble fingers slid up the inside of a silvery thigh. "May I play with this too, before we get to your spike and spark?"

"Kitten, you can play with _whatever_ you want to," Skywarp said with a grin, thrusting his hips suggestively. "I like it all."

Prowl grinned up and ghosted his fingers across the valve cover as his spike cover slid open. "I think I'll have to look you up between carries. Far too few are left that enjoy like we do."

Skywarp giggled as the cover snapped back, exposing a valve that was starting to lubricate. "Tellin' _me_ ," he said. "I figure it's all just fragging anyway, what's not to love?" 

"I have no idea," Prowl trilled back as his fingers slid around the rim, reveling in the moan and press he earned. He settled on his knees and worked under Skywarp's hips to bring them up to his mouth where he kissed the rim, them pressed his glossa inside to swirl against the slick sides while his lips plates massaged the rim and platelets surrounding it.

"Oh, _frag_ ," Skywarp gasped, gave another short groan, and rocked upward. " _Nnh_ , that's good. _Frag_ that's good. Bet you-- _ha_ \--bet you like the way that tastes." 

::Oh, definitely. I'm quite fond of spike as well,:: Prowl commed so he didn't have to break his attention to the rapidly warming and slickening valve.

"Uh-huh," Skywarp moaned. He was fully slick in just kliks from the shameless way Prowl was sucking and licking, already panting. Prowl's engines purred with pleasure at how quickly he'd made the frame hot from this alone, and he started to stroke harder with his glossa. Skywarp gasped and bucked. "Oh, _yeah_ like that! Yeah really go down on it, _frag_." 

::I love making mecha moan. I'm going to lick you clean, then suck your spike before I fill you with my transfluid,:: Prowl purred seductively. His glossa pressed and slid, stimulating the sensor nodes it could reach. With a mischievous hint in his field he seal his lips plates around the rim and puffed a vent of air into Skywarp's valve. It was just enough pressure to turn the sensors on, but not enough to really light them up.

" _Tease!_ " Skywarp complained, but he was just as enjoying of Prowl's attentions as anything else he'd said. "Fragging--get--on with it!"

::You _really_ want my spike right away? Or should I stuff you full of toy and ride you instead?:: Prowl teased.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Skywarp gasped. "Watching me squirm. Bet you get off on it. Bet you get off on _anything_. Oh you're good at that," he praised of Prowl's mouth and glossa. "C'mon, suck me, _really_ suck me."

::Oh, I definitely get off on it. A lover helpless under me, unable to do anything but take what I give them, when and how I give it,:: Prowl moaned into the valve as he continued to lap at it, his systems hot and eager as his field pulsed hard against Skywarp. ::You look, teek, sound so good when you're revved up. You taste good too.::

"Frag yes I do," Skywarp said with a gasping laugh as his back arched up, legs lifting his hips almost out of Prowl's hands and into Prowl's mouth. "Little more, little more, c'mon get it get it get it--" He strained against the handcuffs, optics flickering, then shouted as he bucked, grinding against Prowl's glossa as the release rushed through him. "Yes--yes, I--ohh, _yes!_ "

Prowl let it all wash over him, revving him up just a bit more as the lubricant conducted strong zaps of electricity into his glossa and all the complex sensors inside his oral cavity. He continued to lick and hum until Skywarp shuddered as he unlocked and sank down to the berth. Prowl easily let him go and crawled forward, leaning over him to drive his spike into the still energized lubricant and rippling valve.

"Ever done this, sink into an overloading valve?" Prowl moaned deeply as he began to rock and thrust, his optics bright with pleasure.

"Not quite like this," Skywarp said, panting and already lifting his frame into Prowl's thrusts. "Think I gotta try it now. _Primus_ that's good." He grinned up at Prowl, more in control of himself now, enough to pitch his engines into a purr. "You like that, huh? Feels good?"

"Very good," Prowl moaned and reached up to rub his hands along Skywarp's frame, exploring cockpit glass, alt mode intakes and wings. "Looking forward to feeling you fill me too," he brought one hand down to rub against the silver spike cover. "I've heard some good things about this spike."

"Mmm you've heard right," Skywarp said with a suggestive rumble. "You like being fragged strutless? Worked until you're steaming?" 

"I've carried forty two times already," Prowl laughed brightly into a deep engine moan. "Sire code makes sure they do it every night, every morning and if I can catch them, during the day too. Just wait until you feel it. You'll never have endurance like that without the code driving you. You get revved up thinking about me on your berth, legs spread and valve dripping now? Just wait until I start to show with your creation. You'll pound into me until you're dry and I've long since dropped offline."

"And you'll love every second of it," Skywarp purred with certainty. He bucked his hips. "C'mon then, show me how you like it. Show me hot and hard and pounding, I _love_ a thick spike stuffing me."

Prowl grinned and shifted his angle so he could do just that, drive as deeply into the larger frame as he could, as hard and fast as he could without damaging himself. Every thrust sent jolts of pleasure into him, dragged another shuddering moan or gasp from him. "Oh yes, so slick, so strong. You feel so good."

"So d'you," Skywarp moaned, his valve clenching in around Prowl. "Good spike, y'know how to use it for sure. _Ohh_ yeah, right there, _right_ there, got me so tight."

Prowl moved perfectly, rubbing along the exact path Skywarp told him to until he was shaking. With a roar and jamming drive he forced their arrays to mesh as he overloaded, pumping thick, crackling transfluid deep into the larger mecha's valve as he ground against him. Skywarp shouted out as the fluid hit sensitized nodes in the back of his valve in a hard jet, setting off a cascading reaction that shuddered through his entire frame. He screamed out a curse and overloaded as the third heated jet hit, shuddering with Prowl as frames locked together.

"Hot damn, you're good," Skywarp mumbled, only half cognizant as he relaxed and watched Prowl pull out of him. He whined slightly at the loss, only to moan when heated lips kiss his spike cover.

"Open up, let me see and taste this beauty before I ride it," Prowl cooed up at him.

"Get excited." Skywarp grinned and slid the cover aside, letting his spike extend on its own. "Don't be embarrassed if you overload just by looking at it," he added, splaying his legs apart. "It has that effect."

"Braggart," Prowl chuckled, even as he played his fingers lightly around the housing's rim. Despite not being that spectacular, only slightly bigger and more ornate than Starscream's and nowhere close to the girth of Megatron or a shuttle, it still made Prowl's valve squeeze in anticipation and flashed heat across his field just for the tip peaking out.

He leaned down to kiss that perfectly polished silver tip, and swirled his glossa around the cone as it emerged.

Skywarp's head rolled back and he groaned happily at the attention. "Not bragging if it's true," he said, his spike extending steadily. " _Loving_ your mouth, mech. Lick it for me, that's it."

Prowl revved his engine and continued to lavish attention with his glossa as he began to hum and stroking the housing with his fingers, working to encourage the black shaft to emerge for him. He curled his glossa around the tip and slowly slid his fingers up and down the length that had already appeared, his strokes getting longer every time. The metal was warm in his hand, weighty and thick, both shorter and wider than Starscream. 

Skywarp's hips pulsed up and down in mini-thrusts and the seeker was purring in kliks. "So good," he praised as the spike locks clicked at full extension. "Hot glossa, hot mouth, can't wait to really pound you. You slick for me?"

Prowl lifted his helm off the length and grinned at the eager mech. "Very slick," he promised and shifted forward to kneel over the thick spike. He sank down onto it, feeling the stretch that caused shivers along his entire frame. "Ohh, you feel _good_ , stretching me like this."

Skywarp gave a short, harsh x-vent and groaned something like agreement. "You feel good being stretched," he said, and started to push up. The valve walls, strong and flexible, conformed around him, parting with his thrusts. The tip was surrounded by a hot, tight nest of sensors, with calipers squeezing around it. "Gonna love filling you. Gonna _cover_ you with my spill."

"Not until you've completely filled my tanks," Prowl groaned as he intentionally squeezed down and lifted his frame up. "Want all of it _inside_ me to built that little seeker."

"Gonna flood you then," Skywarp said, gasping. "Frag but you've got a sweet valve. Know what you're doin', that's for sure."

"Lots of practice. Pleasurebot coding," Prowl shivered as he began to ride Skywarp, broadcasting his pleasure and enjoyment through his field and voice without a trace of shame or the uptight rule follower he was on duty.

"Frag yes, frag yeah," Skywarp groaned, pulling against the handcuffs. " _Ohh_ , ride that spike, yeah, ride it like you want it, ride it until it explodes inside you." Another useless jerk against the restraints. "Gonna really pound you when I can hold you," he said, hips moving in time with Prowl's movements. "Gonna wreck you so good, make you beg for it. You look so good on my spike--faster, c'mon, yeah, oh _yeah_ \--" 

The door opened behind them. Reflex had Prowl signal the cuffs to unlock before even trying to identify the intruder. Skywarp gave a growl of frustration, then a familiar voice began speaking. 

"Skywarp, I got locked out of the lab, I need you to--" Starscream's voice stopped very suddenly, and a strange choking noise came out as he realized what was going on and with who. "What--what are you--" 

"I'm _fragging_ , what does it look like?" Skywarp snarled at him, craning his neck to see around Prowl. "Don't you know what a locked door means?"

Prowl's frame was frozen, half of Skywarp's spike inside him, and he growled in the mixture of protective and threatened that came with being interrupted while mating with the sire of his next creation. Dark doorwings were spread wide, tracking the frame behind him.

Starscream reflexively shrank back from the aggressive display, his own wings dipping, but his narrowed, enraged optics never left Skywarp. " _What_. Are you _doing?_ " he repeated in a hiss. 

Skywarp rolled his optics and shook his hands free, pushing himself up and wrapping his arms around Prowl, holding the Praxian in his lap as he continued to thrust into him. "Seriously, Screamer? You're gonna do this _now?_ Can it wait? I'm kinda busy, and it's none of your business." 

" _Busy?_ " Starscream spluttered. 

"Yeah, _busy_ ," Skywarp said, sliding one hand lower on Prowl's frame to cup his aft for leverage as the grounder held onto his frame and moaned, reassured that the intruder was no threat. "'S your own fault, I locked the door for a reason."

"I just need a warp inside my lab," Starscream hissed, unable to tear his gaze away from his least worthy trinemate fucking _his mate_.

The thought was almost enough to jar Starscream out of his mood, but not quite when Prowl arched his back forward and howled an overload to the sky.

It caught even Skywarp by surprise as the charge that cracked through his valve was eagerly absorbed by Skywarp's spike, and the black seeker gave a strangled shout and started ramming his hips upward, curling around Prowl as he overloaded, the pace never stopping. Distantly--between the hard spasms in his spike that coincided with jets of transfluid--he was aware that Starscream had scrambled out of the room. He felt a little badly for it, he really hadn't meant for things to go that way... 

But oh, Primus. Prowl was hot and squirming in his arms and it was turning him on like nothing else. "Oh I got plenty more where that came from," he moaned. "You're still so slick, you want it, don't you, wanna spike yourself with my spill still in you."

"Primus yes!" Prowl shuddered and gasped. "Take me. Fill me. Pin me."

Skywarp rumbled a growl and swung up to his knees before falling forward, getting Prowl on his back as he hunched over him, plenty eager to enjoy the wanton Praxian. 

It was going to be a fun vorn.

* * *

Red Alert fussed in one room of the common areas of the triad's complex. He was giving Prowl a much needed break from watching over Mimic, but Prowl had been delayed by a chase and now Red Alert had to tend to the twenty five vorn old sparkling while setting the table for the entire family. Five adults, two bipedal cassettes, two avian cassettes, two quadruped cassette and one young sparkling. It was a gathering they managed more nights than most, but Red Alert still fussed over it every time and the family allowed it.

Having Mimic with him was a strain though, because the little being copied him flawlessly. Not just the vocalizations that everyone expected given his designation, but his mannerisms and movements. With a low trill of approval when the sparkling set one of the placements correctly, he commed Soundwave. ::Love, would you please collect your creation until dinner? It's too much.::

::Understood,:: Soundwave said. "ETA: ten kliks. Red Alert: would like Rumble or Frenzy to arrive sooner?::

::Affirmative,:: Red Alert didn't hide his relief over the comm, though he kept his field carefully controlled. Mimic didn't need to know just how difficult it was for his creator to be in charge of him.

The comm link hummed with understanding and less than a klik later Rumble showed up through one of the small tunnels that the cassettes used to move about the compound. "Hey Mimic!" he called. "I'm bored, wanna play?"

The sparkling immediately looked at his creator-in-charge. "May I, Red Alert?"

The similarity in form and voice to Prowl when the little being spoke as himself made Red Alert's spark ache on occasion. "Yes, you may. Have fun, Mimic."

Mimic turned around and bounded after Rumble, immediately morphing into a perfect replica in both mannerism and voice of the cassette as they started to play chase. 

Soundwave arrived not long after, lifting the sparkling into his arms. "Mimic: is ready for dinner?" he asked.

"Affirmative," the little being immediately stilled his frame and field language as his voice slid into a monotone mimic of his sire. "Query: location of Prowl?"

"Prowl: hunting," Soundwave answered.

"Again? He's still in catch-up mode?" Wavelength asked with a teasing humor as he entered. Now in his adult frame and with a single felenoid cassette, he had his sire's build and telepathic talent with his carrier's processor and tac-net. The full extent of his capabilities was a carefully guarded family secret, to protect him from the ever more volatile and paranoid temperament of Lord Megatron.

"Shuttle sire," Red Alert said. "This last one was a particularly long and debilitating carry. He will be in before long. Soundwave can take Mimic to wash before dinner?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Soundwave agreed with a warm brush of thought across Red Alert's awareness before walking to a small, basic washrack off the kitchen in the next room.

"How are you doing, Red?" Wavelength asked softly as he put a hand on his creator's shoulder. He was fully aware that the mech had not contributed to his spark or frame, but Red Alert had raised him as much as his physical creators had and loved that he thought of him as a creator.

"Not bad, not bad," Red Alert said as he started to run final checks on the compound's security while setting the pitchers of energon on the table to join the caddy for additives--all carefully scanned for contaminants--and the platter of confections and sweets. "Having you all in the same room at once is always a little terrifying."

"I know," Wavelength nuzzled him with his facemask while his white visor flashed slightly. "It will all be well," he said and gently bolstered Red Alert's calming protocols to sooth him.

"Red Alert, Wavelength: good evening," Secureza greeted them as he entered from the direction of his wing of the complex. "Security: no weaknesses."

Red Alert smiled at him. "Thank you," he said, as Soundwave brought Mimic back in. While in his arms, the sparkling stayed perfectly calm and ordered, looking around at the scene with a level, emotionless gaze. 

Wavelength and Secureza greeted each other while Soundwave came to stand near Red Alert. "Soundwave: is certain that Red Alert has designed an enjoyable evening," he said.

Red Alert smiled at his triad companion, then paused as a comm came in. "Prowl: ETA: two breems. Requests one breem to clean up."

"Understood," Soundwave said. "Timing: is not as significant as safety and comfort."

"Agreed," Red Alert leaned lightly against his companion as they and their creations chatted and various cassettes filtered in or made themselves known. "I'll be back with Prowl," he announced when he received the alert that Prowl had entered the property via the primary entrance, rather than the one to his private suite. It meant, as expected, that Prowl was alone and intending to join them. He plotted out the best course to intercept him on his way to the primary washracks, meeting up with him on his way there. "Hello, how was your patrol?" he asked with a warm caress from his field.

"It went very well," Prowl purred, still a bit jacked up from the chase he'd been on and very happy to be home. "A speeder refused to pull over. It turned out he was wanted for assault. Three security mecha joined me and we ended up tackling him near the boarder. That's why my finish is a mess," he leaned in to give Red Alert a kiss on the cheek and curled his field warmly around the other. "Has everyone arrived?"

"Everyone but you," Red Alert said as they stepped into the washrack. He began a systematic search of Prowl's frame, hands mapping out the familiar armor, looking for any injury while the Praxian turned on the solvent spray and began to clean up without disrupting Red Alert's efforts. It was a familiar dance to them both. "I'm sure we can get your finish presentable. They were surprised you're still going out on patrols."

"They don't quite understand what 'Enforcer coding' means," Prowl chuckled in understanding and acceptance that many of his creations took after their sire more than him. "The enjoyment and freedom it is for me to sink that fully into what I am."

Red Alert hummed as Prowl turned the cleanser on and moved behind him, starting to wash his back. "Security still getting on your case for joining in on arrests?" he asked.

"Not since they realized that Soundwave backs me up," Prowl moaned softly in pleasure at the attention. "Barricade and Crashcourse do too, but Barricade doesn't have much rank and Crashcourse is still young, even if he did inherit most of my frame and hardware."

Red Alert smiled, enjoying the way the doorwings pressed into his hands. "As long as you are safe about it," he said.

"Always," Prowl promised. "I was programmed and trained for this and am experienced. Safety during the chase is critical. Both to keep the public safe and one's fellow Enforcers," he all but rambled. Neither cared much about the conversation. None of it was new. It was simply interactions to reassure each other that all was well and that Prowl was who he said he was. "Has Wavelength said anything about building a second cassette?"

"Not yet, he seems content with Storm," Red Alert said. "Though he was making hints at wanting advice for courting. You'll have to help him there."

"Soundwave is rather good at that too," Prowl finished washing one pede and moved to the other. "He can help with the telepathy angle of what to use and not use of what he picks up. Has he mentioned anyone yet?" he asked with more than a passing interest.

"Not specifically, though I think he might be looking at a pair," Red Alert said. "Soundwave may have gotten more, I haven't asked him about it."

"He will tell us in time," Prowl finished his second pede and flared his armor out to get rid of the dust that had crept inside. "It can be a very serious step for one so young. Particularly if one is a carrier."

Red Alert sighed at the truth of it. "He is lucky to be a 'path," he said. "Too many carriers get taken advantage of. He'll have a better idea of it than most."

"Agreed. We've raised him to be a good mecha. He'll do right by whoever he chooses," Prowl said with a certainty there was no logical reason for. He turned the shower off and moved to the drying station as they fell silent, the noise of the hot air making speech difficult.

Red Alert tucked himself into Prowl's arms and enjoyed the calm moment of safety and certainty, only moving again once the drying systems powered down and they started the walk to join the others. 

Soundwave was seated with Mimic on his left, then an empty chair for Prowl. Wavelength with Storm perched on his shoulder was beyond the empty seat. To Soundwave's right was an empty seat for Red Alert, then Secureza, while Soundwave's cassettes sat directly across from the head of the clade. Only Ravage wasn't visible, and they all knew she was under the table by preference. Prowl wasn't thrilled that unlike her four siblings she didn't want to eat _at_ the table, but he'd eventually given in and allowed her the place of her choice under it.

"Hello Prowl," Mimic said solemnly as his other two creators joined them, his carrier sitting at his side to have him between his frame creators. It was a space that Wavelength had once held, back when Secureza sat between Soundwave and Red Alert.

"Hello, Mimic. Did you have an enjoyable orn?" Prowl asked as he reached out and stroked a gentle thumb along the sparkling's tiny chevron as he rested his hand on Mimic's helm. It was a distinctly affectionate movement and one of the very few creator behaviors that Prowl displayed. It wasn't lost on anyone, except perhaps Prowl, that his displays of affection towards both of his creations centered on whatever physical traits they had inherited from him. With Wavelength, it was his upper back. While he didn't display the doorwings, or any protrusions at all, Prowl had seen and felt the capacity for it in his sparkling frame and never forgotten. Mimic had it too, and his carrier's chevron, though it was yet to be seen whether the potential for some kind of wing-like structure would develop into an actual display.

"It was very productive," Mimic said, and began to list off all the tasks he had completed during the day, organized by difficulty, while the adults began to pour energon into cubes and flavor it to taste. Soundwave selected both energon and solids for Mimic, then put Ravage's share by his pede while Secureza served the two avians. 

By the time Mimic was done everyone had their energon but no one had touched it yet. Soundwave might be the dominant partner and legal leader of the clade, the one they all traced their right to be here to, but in some things Prowl definitely ruled. Table manners were unquestionably one of them. No one began to fuel until a small thanks was given.

Prowl's voice was clear, steady and almost emotional when he spoke the glyphs that were all but ritual in the clade. "Remember the lives gone and suffering endured so we may have peace and prosperity. Never forget or belittle the ones who make our energon, for it is on the hard work of the masses that our comfort rests. Never forget that our wealth depends on their contentment and their contentment must begin with our generosity, for we have power in this world."

"Comecro," the others chorused, with the exception of Soundwave, who repeated a simple, "Never forget." Even Rumble and Frenzy had long since learned that their participation was expected. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw trilled, Storm gave a chirr of agreement, and Prowl felt Rumble's vibrating purr as she rubbed against his leg.

"Then let us enjoy the rewards of our efforts," Prowl smiled and everyone began to refuel.

"Speaking of the masses," Secureza said as he reached out to grab another pinch of iron flakes. "My supervisors tell me I'm making things up, but I swear there's a significant pattern to be found in the crime rates. Energon theft and truancy has seen a marked upswing in the past three decades." He hesitated, looking directly at his sire for reassurance.

"Secureza: continue." Soundwave encouraged.

"The part that's really unsettling is that it's almost all by former neutrals and non-carrier former Autobots," the nervous empath said, then glanced around for condemnation that didn't come.

"You are not making it up. I have determined much the same," Prowl said simply, earning a look from everyone. They all knew the difference in his tone between supporting someone in their ideas and the tac-net actually agreeing with those ideas. "Corruption has already crept into the government to an extent it is beginning to affect the most vulnerable of society."

"Yeah, exactly," Secureza said. "And if you go digging into the actual case files, you find things like judges ignoring the defense because of the actions being indicative of some kind of willful rebellion. When more often than not it's probably because someone was skimming off the top and letting them go unfueled."

"Corruption: counterproductive to society." Soundwave said, and despite the near-monotone and lack of frame language, they all recognized his displeasure.

"You are the one who can speak among us. You know Megatron well," Prowl looked at the elder host steadily. "What plans would he accept to counter this corruption?"

"Soundwave: will compile and analyze a proper solution," the host said. 

"Secureza thanks you," Secureza murmured to his sire.

"As does Prowl," the Praxian added, his doorwings flicking in just how deep the thanks -- and his fear -- ran. He was still settling into this society. The idea of another rebellion, another war, doing it all over for the third and then forth time, was too much for him to contemplate.

"When you know what direction to take, we are all in on the planning," Wavelength said with a force of intent behind the quiet words that definitely came from his carrier. "This society will not fall."

Red Alert was looking at their three creations somewhat sadly, then smiled when he felt Soundwave's reassuring brush against his mind. 

"Red Alert: should not be concerned," the host said. 

"I'm not--I mean I am, but I'm trying to not be," Red Alert said, curling his fingers around Soundwave's. "I just don't want all of you to go through what we did." 

Secureza reached out to hold his creator's other hand. "This government is much more stable than the one that fell," he said. "I think it's impossible to have a perfect society, but we learned some good lessons from the mistakes of the previous incarnation."

"We have learned a great deal, and more rational processors are in power here. Megatron _listens_ to Soundwave." Prowl added. "We will make this work."

"Now, what about better news," Secureza grinned mischievously at his slightly younger brother. "I've been seeing you visit some unusual mecha lately."

Wavelength stiffened, then glared at his half-sibling. "Wavelength has been conducting normal periodic rehabilitation reviews," he said, but his field flustered with a kind of giddy embarrassment.

"Mmm, then it is someone I know well," Prowl actually purred, his ice blue optics glittering in good humor and hope mingled with pleasure for his creation to pick up. "Designations?"

"Prowl could not have possibly known everyone in the Autobot army well," Wavelength muttered while Secureza snickered. Mimic was looking between his two older brothers, his field shifting as he imitated first one and then the other, not quite able to decide which one to latch onto. In the end he chose his sire, who was and always would be the safe default.

"Of the survivors, there are very few I don't know," Prowl countered. "Knowing my soldiers and how to use them was my function. I can tell you much about them."

"He's shy," Secureza teased, reaching across to playfully shove Wavelength, who glowered back. 

"It's just that..." Wavelength said, with an uncertain glance at his sire. "There was--um--in their public records, it's--" He paused, steeled himself, then blurted, "JazzandWhiplash." 

Soundwave's visor brightened with shock. Prowl's jaw dropped and Red Alert let out something of a screech.

"What's wrong?" Secureza asked, shocked, as Wavelength winced. Mimic's alarm at their behavior broke his mimicking of the adults and it locked onto Ravage as he dove under the table to cower with her.

The felenoid cassette growled up at the adults in general and crouched over the sparking in a protective stance that was all about making him feel better.

"Jazz was the Autobot Special Operations commander. Whiplash was the Prime's Assassin," Prowl spelled it out. "Jazz and I do not get along on good orns."

"You haven't even spoken with him since the war ended, Prowl." Wavelength countered.

"He's a _saboteur_ , Wavelength," Prowl said sharply. "Lying, earning trust to break it is what he _does_."

"Prowl: forgets Wavelength telepathic. Lying: does not work," Soundwave reminded his companion firmly enough that Prowl settled and backed off.

"Do they return your interest?" Prowl asked, more subdued but focused on what mattered: if his creation was happy.

"I think so," Wavelength said. "I try not to pry too deeply." 

"Well you should," Red Alert said sharply. "For your own good." 

"Wavelength: needs to understand how dangerous Jazz and Whiplash are," Soundwave said, looking intently at his creation, and began to push over all his knowledge of the pair.

It made the young host shiver, his field paling and blanching several times. "No, they aren't like that."

"They're probably worse," Prowl muttered, then sighed. "Look, we just want you to be careful. They are about as far from harmless and good citizens as a survivor around here can be. They could not only hurt you terribly, but drag you into something not even Soundwave and I could prove they're up to. I will not demand that you do not pursue them. I will expect you to be _very_ careful around them, and listen to your sire if he says they intend ill."

Wavelength glared at Secureza, who cringed guiltily. "Wavelength understands," he muttered sullenly. 

"Sorry," Secureza said, and gave his creators an imploring look. "Didn't think you'd be so upset," he said. "He's been really happy about the whole thing."

"We are very happy he's found someone that makes him happy," Prowl said with unusual gentleness. "We just don't want him to be hurt and we know those two. Jazz and I did not get along at all, but we never tried to coexist as civilians, either." His processors murmured something indistinct about family. "With what I have experienced, I will give both the benefit of a new chance. If I can change as much as I have, perhaps they can as well. Did you know that Jazz is a carrier who preferred life in a cell to carrying for your sire?"

"It was in his records," Wavelength said, looking down and to the side. "I found it when I went to look up more about him." 

"Good," Prowl let out a small vent of relief, a reaction that earned a look from Wavelength. "I trust that means you understand just how careful you must be when suggesting creations."

"I would never," Wavelength said quickly. "Not unless he brought it up first."

That made Prowl relax as he turned the pairing over several times in his processors and accepted the feedback of the tac-net. "I cannot say I like your choice, but I will support you in it so long as they do not hurt you. If they make you happy, I will give Jazz a chance to prove he is worthy of my creation."

"Thank you," Wavelength said, before kicking Secureza under the table. "You know some orn you're going to have an embarrassing secret and I _will_ find it." 

Secureza grinned back at him. "And when that orn comes, I think I'll remember a few more of yours." 

Mimic crawled back up into his chair, poking his head over the table and copying Secureza's grin as Prowl lifted him back to his seat and the conversation drifted towards more neutral subjects.

* * *

Bluestreak's official title was Head of Operations and Cultural Coordinator, which was a fancy way of saying that he was in charge of the care and reimbursement of the mecha who came into the carrier compound as volunteers. He oversaw their energon, housing and recreation, while continuing to live in the compound himself. His own creation now an adult, Bluestreak had never adjusted enough to life in general society. The compound was safe and secure for mecha like him that didn't have a way to turn off the wartime protocols. It kept them feeling safe enough to keep the combat protocols and nightmares largely at bay while keeping society safe from mecha who'd never developed the skills, and in some cases didn't even have the basic protocols to function in a civilian capacity.

Over the course of four hundred and two vorns Bluestreak had seen the relative value of the funds per mecha used here decrease, but not enough that it wasn't still a very nice life. Especially for those like him whose options were pitifully limited on the outside. Most residents now checked themselves in either before kindling or shortly after when they realized that society wasn't safe around them. A smaller percentage were committed by the legal system at the request of their mates. That only half a dozen were truly permanent residents was, by most estimations, an amazing accomplishment.

At the moment he wasn't sure what his one-time mentor, friend, surrogate creator and fellow Praxian wanted with the meeting he was now waiting for. It wasn't the first time that Prowl had checked on him, but it was the first time he'd requested that Sirocco be there.

He and the seeker had continued their relationship past Spiral's separation, and were talking about having another. It was a strange life, and Bluestreak was well aware that he was a relic of a time long lost, but on the whole, it wasn't bad. 

"Prowl," he said warmly, hugging his friend as Prowl entered his quarters. They were large by the compound's standards, and comfortable, with several rooms for entertaining and hosting, one for a creation, one for a sire, and one for him. "It's really good to see you I hope everything's okay."

"Yes, I am doing well, as is my family," Prowl promised as he returned the embrace and followed him to a set of lounges. Bluestreak and Sirocco sat next to each other and Prowl settled across from them, then reached out and took his friend's hands in his own. "How are you?"

"I'm good!" Bluestreak said. "Things have been running really smoothly here and some of the new adults since the war are even starting to be interested in carrying." He stepped aside for Sirocco, who reached out to shake Prowl's hand. 

"Prowl, hello," the seeker said. "I'm glad you are well."

"Thank you, and thank you for making time to speak with me. I have found myself in a rather unusual situation with this, so please forgive any irregularities," Prowl spoke to them both. "I trust you are both at least passingly familiar with what I have chosen for my function?"

"The carrying thing, yes," Sirocco said, as Bluestreak nodded.

"With as few Praxians as there are left, I have often favored them when selecting a sire. You, however, I know would never ask for my services." Prowl focused on Bluestreak. "However, we both have good quality frames, strong sparks, compatible coding and you have successfully raised one creation that is a stable and productive member of society despite your coding issues."

"That's true!" Bluestreak said brightly. "Spiral's been doing really well he has a job in the environmental safety task force you know for making sure the planet isn't corroding or anything and I know it's a lot more complicated than that really but that's what I--" 

"Blue," Sirocco murmured with a smile, laying a hand on his partner's arm. "Let him finish."

Prowl inclined his helm to the seeker, then refocused on Bluestreak. "I came to offer my next contract to you, as the last Praxian I have not created with."

"I--" For a moment, Bluestreak looked at a loss for words, staring at Prowl. "You want to create with _me?_ "

"And why wouldn't he?" Sirocco asked, though his wings weren't set as positively as his tone. He looked at Prowl. "You want him to sire, or carry?"

"To sire and raise the creation," Prowl answered Sirocco first. "Because you are Praxian and we have a high probability of creating a stable Praxian."

Bluestreak nodded. "Yeah we would, that's true," he said. "But I don't really have the kind of credits ... I mean I get paid here but mostly what I get is a place to live so that kind of fee in your contracts--not that I've seen one but you hear about it, you know?"

Prowl's doorwings twitched in surprise. "I am asking you, Bluestreak. There will be no fee, no expenses for you to pay. I will ask you to raise it, and to abide by other contract norms, but this is an indulgence of my desires, not yours."

"Oh!" Bluestreak said, doorwings lifting. "Well I just thought--since it's how you make a living and all--will you still have enough credits? I can probably pay you a little, I wouldn't want things to be hard..."

"Bluestreak," Prowl interrupted him. "While I appreciate the thought a great deal, credits are very far from my concerns. Between the wealth I earn, what my investments bring in and Soundwave's recourses, I am in no danger of needing monetary assistance. I will be providing it."

"Okay, credits are not a problem then," Bluestreak said, doorwings twitching and fluttering with some nervous excitement. "It would be nice, to have more Praxians. I know we'll never be like we were before--not while I'm alive anyway--but it would still be nice." He looked at Sirocco. "What do you think?" 

"We were talking about another," Sirocco said hesitantly. "You won't be able to carry while you're siring." 

"It could wait a few vorns, though," Bluestreak said. 

"But two sparklings to care for at once?" 

"I think we could handle that," Bluestreak said. "There's some have twins, they handle it all right, and it might be nice for them to have a playmate who stays around for more than a few vorns."

"Bluestreak should be able to carry within a metacycle after separation. The system strain is significantly less on the sire, despite what it may feel like to them. They would be very close in age difference to Lord Megatron's creations," Prowl offered. "I can come back another time, however there is a 32% probability that I would no longer be able to carry in three hundred vorns and a 7% probability I could not even sire."

Bluestreak's wings drooped. "Yeah," he said. "I know." He looked at Sirocco. "I'm going to sire for him. We'll have so many chances, including for a brother to raise with him. Prowl won't, not with me. Not for a Praxian."

Sirocco canted his wings in acceptance. "It's your choice, love."

"How involved do you wish to be in negotiations and raising Bluestreak's creation?" Prowl asked.

"I wish to be kept apprised," Sirocco said. "And I wish to be involved at least a little, or I won't see him for the entire carry. No frame influence on the sparkling, I'm not asking that," he added quickly. 

"You'll see me," Bluestreak said. "Of course you will." 

"You've never been a sire," Sirocco said wryly. "You won't want to do anything but watch over Prowl when you aren't fragging him, and you'll only be watching over him when you're too tired to frag."

"I am a demanding carrier in that way. Far more demanding than I expect you were," Prowl added by way of warning. "I have learned that it is advantageous for those involved in raising the creation to recharge with the carrier, whether they are a sire or not. The newspark develops being familiar with your field and associating you with safety, care and belonging. While the extent that you wish to recharge with us is between the two of you, I do recommend it being frequent. That is part of the reason I requested your presence today. The other reason is that I do not wish the contract or any aspect of it to come as a surprise to you, as you are Bluestreak's mate and he has made clear that he wishes to remain with you."

"Thank you," Sirocco said. "Would you like a drink? You and Bluestreak can go over the contract together, I'll let you know if something bothers me."

"Thank you," Prowl canted his doorwings to the seeker and they both relaxed while Bluestreak scampered off in host mode before Sirocco could say he'd get the energon. "It's good to see him happy. You've been very good for him," Prowl smiled softly at the seeker before pulling out the legal datapads, three in all, and handed one to Sirocco before placing one at Bluestreak's place as the younger Praxian returned with three cubes of good quality energon.

"I've tried," Sirocco said, putting his hand over Bluestreak's and smiling warmly at him. "It was a bit of a surprise how good he was for me, too." 

"You're a ridiculous sap," Bluestreak said lovingly, and leaned in to kiss him before they both picked up the contracts. 

By judging reading speed, Prowl was able to predict within less than sixteen nanokliks when Bluestreak's screech would come, and it did with lifted and shaking doorwings. Sirocco's wings giving a startled twitch as he looked at his mate with alarm.

"Clause 39B," Prowl suggested to Sirocco. "I don't edit it out no matter how unlikely the sire is to use it."

" _Euthanize?_ " Bluestreak demanded, pointing at the clause detailing the fate for sparklings who were rejected. "Prowl!"

"It is better to put it down quickly and cleanly than to let it be abandoned, or suffer with a creator who does not want it," Prowl said bluntly, though his tone was kind. "I saw too much as an Enforcer to ever inflict that on a sparkling."

"But--but--there have to be _some_ mecha who can take them in!" Bluestreak protested. "Have..." He looked terrified to even ask, and his voice became just barely more than a squeak. "Have you ever used it?"

"Yes, though not because the sire didn't want it after it separated. He paid for my next contract when testing confirmed that it was a fluke event," Prowl explained. "My ninety-third carry resulted in a severely deformed frame despite all the precautions taken. It was aborted a metacycle before separation to end its suffering, and to an extent mine."

"That's ... awful," Bluestreak said sadly. 

"What are the chances of something similar happening again?" Sirocco asked, frowning. 

"The odds are extremely low. Given our matching frametypes and Bluestreak's lack of upgrades, less than 0.00001%," Prowl assured him. "Even at its most likely it never exceeded 0.0007% for any given contract according to medical experts I have consulted. Anything over 0.001% and I refuse the contract. Now, that does not count glitches. Those are a separate consideration given that my glitch is directly related to my processors and tac-net and the odds of it being passed on are directly related to how similar the creation is to me. It is the same situation if the sire has a hardware-related glitch."

"Okay..." Bluestreak said, looking a little queasy. "Prowl..." He reached across the table and covered Prowl's hands with his own. "If you ever get a sparkling that no one wants, bring it to me."

"I will put that in future contracts, but the sire would have to agree to the transfer of rights instead of euthanasia. I cannot promise that all would do so, and it would not change the results for a severely deformed frame," Prowl accepted the offer warmly, his field expressing that he wasn't just humoring Bluestreak, but taking him very seriously.

"Of course," Bluestreak said. "Thank you. I can't stand the thought of a healthy sparkling going unloved, after so much death it just seems so awful when I know there could be homes for all of them or at least I'm sure I could watch over them here I mean there's plenty of space and fuel and it would just be so silly to let..." 

Sirocco slipped his hand over Bluestreak's arm, a simple movement that had an immediate calming effect on the Praxian. Bluestreak quieted and smiled at him before turning back to Prowl. 

"I ramble sometimes," he said.

"I know," Prowl smiled at the pair. "I was there when nothing could make you stop. Now it's down to a touch from your mate. You've progressed a great deal."

Bluestreak's doorwings fluttered happily at the acknowledgement before he and Sirocco returned to the contracts to finish reading. Prowl saw both of them frown at one point, and Bluestreak glanced up at him, but they finished in silence.

When they had put down the datapads, Prowl met both their gazes. "Is there anything else in the contract you wish to discuss?"

They glanced at each other. "The ... the no damaging you thing..." Bluestreak said hesitantly. "Why is that there...?"

"The first time Megatron spiked me he did not prepare me. I would have been fine with a mech my size, but not one his size," Prowl gave enough to explain without going into detail. "His spike is as large as you would expect from his frame."

"Oh so you want to make sure that no one else ever does that," Bluestreak said. "Do you really make arrangements with mecha you'd be worried would hurt you?"

"In a sadistic way, no. I avoid those mecha," Prowl said easily. "Out of ignorance, mistake or lack of care, yes. Remember, I have no personal relationship with these mecha. They are paying me, and paying a great deal, to use my frame for their benefit. Megatron proved that it is a necessary clause."

"Fragger," Bluestreak muttered. He frowned in silence for a few moments. 

"I can find no issue with this contract," Sirocco said. "Would you like to include my rights and limitations within?"

"Affirmative," Prowl nodded. "All details should be entered for all our protection. This document will define our interactions for at least eight metacycles."

"I'll get some more energon," Sirocco said with a smile for Prowl and a squeeze of Bluestreak's hand.

* * *

Megatron lounged on his throne as he watched the feed of Prowl approaching the sprawling estate that housed all the critical functions of government, including Megatron's residence. At his side, as always, was Soundwave, and he spared a glance for his most loyal officer. The mech had done wonders with Prowl, creating a valuable and well behaved member of society. It was almost enough to allow Megatron to forgive Prowl for his mistakes during the war. Almost.

Even giving him Krieger was not quite enough to earn Megatron's pardon, but even though he would never trust the mech, there were some things he could be relied upon to do. 

"Welcome," he rumbled as Prowl entered, and stood to greet him.

"Lord Megatron," Prowl inclined his helm to the warlord.

Megatron's mouth curved up in a smile that didn't quite meet his optics. "Come, walk with me," he said, walking down the steps and holding his arms open in friendship. "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you." 

"Yes, Lord Megatron," Prowl said as he fell into step where Megatron indicated, but otherwise remained silent and neutral in frame and field, waiting for the other to speak and say something the demanded a response.

Megatron led them out of the throne room and back towards the gardens, content to draw the meeting out a bit, and waited until they were outside. Dusk was falling, and it gave a particularly nice look to the crystals around them. "As you know, both Krieger and Maestro are adults now," he said as they walked. "Their role in my empire is secured, but I am always thinking to the future. I would like to commission your next contract."

"The one after this one," Prowl countered, even and calm. "It is in my terms of service that a creation must be in their adult frame before I will carry for a mecha again. Krieger has not yet been upgraded."

"A mere technicality," Megatron said. "Due to the complexities of his frame and size. Adulthood takes much longer to reach for tank-formers than most."

"Are you asking to have special privileges that others are not allowed?" Prowl asked, his field and frame giving no hint to a reaction that didn't need explaining to anyone who knew him.

Megatron gave an internal growl of annoyance. "No, only to work within the spirit of a rule, rather than the letter of it," he said. "Others have been able to get new contracts in 300 vorns, I have been waiting more than 500."

"Surely after this long you realize I am incapable of that," Prowl pointed out. "Though I am curious. What does three vorns matter to you?"

"Very little," Megatron said, frowning. "I am more surprised that it matters to you in the first place." 

"Rules are there to be followed," Prowl replied. "Once they are broken, there is nothing to hold society together. Mecha do not do well without rules that are obeyed. My core code is to enforce the rules. No exceptions, no bending, no questions."

"And I suppose bribery would only serve to insult you," Megatron mused. 

"It is grounds to be blacklisted," Prowl shrugged. "But I will comply with my Supreme Leader's orders."

"Really," Megatron said, surprised. "I would have thought nothing could change your mind when it came to a contract."

"I am a law-abiding citizen and you are my leader. I am compelled to obey the law that I recognize, and I do recognize the current laws and government. What remains from Praxus does not conflict."

"That is most excellent," Megatron said with a pleased purr. "Then I will have your next contract. I am glad you can see the sense of not making your leader wait."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron," Prowl said without visible reaction. "Have you read my standard contract?"

"I have," Megatron said. "I found no issue with it. Are there changes you wish to make?"

"Only setting the fees and determining the level of influence you wish for the frame," Prowl answered, the calculations easy for him after so many contracts. "Because of length of the carry, danger to myself and additional strain, the base fee will be higher than for most, though I expect this would not be a surprise after looking through the contracts already filed."

"Understood," Megatron said, putting his hand on the small of Prowl's back, guiding him back towards his office.

* * *

Soundwave watched Prowl coming back home on the security cameras after spending the evening with Megatron, concerned by the frame language he was reading. The host knew what Megatron had wanted, and judging from both the late return and the set of his doorwings, everything had gone the warlord's way. ::Red Alert: should come,:: he commed, indicating Prowl's private residence as the location. They both knew Prowl would curl up there until he'd worked out his troubles. Just as they both knew that he shouldn't be alone as he processed, whether he was in the mood to discuss it or not.

::Agreed. Prowl: displays distress,:: Red Alert agreed. ::ETA: six kliks.::

Soundwave matched his speed to time his arrival with Red Alert's and they both pinged their intent to enter before doing so. Like all of them, Prowl had the ability to lock them out, though he'd never done so and hadn't now.

"Did Soundwave fill you in?" Prowl glanced up at Red Alert as they entered, though he didn't uncurl from his spot on the large berth.

"Not really," Red Alert said, glancing at the host before going to Prowl and sitting next to him. He put a careful hand over Prowl's as the Praxian leaned into him. "Just that Megatron summoned you. Darling what happened?"

"He ordered I give him the next contract. Knew it was too soon and didn't care," Prowl shivered.

"He _ordered_ you?" Red Alert said, with a shocked glance at Soundwave, who stood motionless to the side. When Soundwave made no movement, Red Alert turned back to Prowl, reaching up to stroke his helm. "Are you already with spark?"

"Yes," Prowl said quietly. Despite his distress, having his triad there was quick to soothe him.

Red Alert carefully shifted closer, first resting a single hand on Prowl's frame, and then laying next to him and pulling him completely into his arms. He looked at Soundwave, his anger clear. "Why didn't you do anything?"

"Lord Megatron: does not comprehend the extent to which Prowl is forced to obey," Soundwave murmured. "Belief: Prowl was obeying freely." 

"Well you could have made him comprehend!" Red Alert shouted. 

"Soundwave: does not offer where not requested," the host said. "Soundwave's duty: is to Lord Megatron." 

"And _what_ about your duty to Prowl?"

"Secondary," Prowl spoke up, defending the host. "He has even less choice about his loyalties and actions than I do."

"Affirmative," Soundwave said quietly. "Soundwave's function: does not permit direct correction of superiors."

Red Alert looked pained, and as much as he understood it, his clear distress over what had happened was overwhelming his field. "He _forced_ you," he mumbled, turning back to Prowl, holding him tight. Soundwave slowly came around to be near them, his field steady, one hand on each frame.

"Yes, and does not understand any more than last time. He is less stable than before," Prowl murmured, grateful for his companions, his triad, even as he genuinely feared for the future.

"Soundwave: has noticed much the same," the host murmured sadly. "Soundwave: grieves for what he has done to you." 

Red Alert nuzzled his helm against Prowl. "I want you to know, I will help you abort the newspark if you ask me to," he said. "Even though I know you won't, and can't."

"Thank you," Prowl turned his helm to kiss Red Alert's cheek. "No, I would not. The contract is signed, and he broke no actual laws to do so. Even if he knew what he was doing, he broke no current laws. Just the ones hardcoded in me."

Red Alert glowered and chittered fretfully, running his hands up and down Prowl's frame in an uncharacteristically possessive set of motions. "Did he hurt you?" he asked. "Physically."

"No. He is abiding by the contract well," Prowl shook his helm and tried to soothe his companion. "He took care, ensured I was slick and ready. Just as he did last time once I insisted on it."

Red Alert didn't stop until he finished his search, then sighed, and rested their forehelms together. "Are you all right?" he asked. 

Soundwave lay down behind Prowl, wrapping an arm around his waist, his field blending with Red Alert's to surround him. "Soundwave: wishes to know as well."

Prowl settled between them, already feeling better for it. "I will be. I had become rather accustomed to being able to refuse a contract, to select who I would be with. A little more than a vorn and it will be over. It is unlikely I will still be a viable breeder by the time this one is mature."

Red Alert's hands clenched on his frame and he gave a low, unhappy moan. "It isn't too late to stop," he said, though his field and tone spoke of how well he knew Prowl wouldn't, and how fully Red Alert supported whatever choice he made.

"I know," Prowl murmured, his frame relaxing as he snuggled between the pair. "The truth is still that I do not want to last long enough to see this government fall. I don't want to face it all again and go to the Well knowing everything was for naught."

"Soundwave: will strive to make this world a good place to leave," the host said fiercely.

"We all are. I want it to be enough," Prowl shifted so he could kiss the host's mask as he reached out to finger the dataports. "Stay tonight?"

"Yes," Soundwave said, as both of their dataports spiraled open for him. 

"Always," Red Alert said, offering his cable to Prowl. Soundwave passed his to Red Alert, and the three settled into the comfort of connection.


	15. Rebuilding Bridges

Starscream glared out from half-lidded optics at the party going on before him. While he sat in a shadowed corner with a cube of reasonably good high grade trying to work out just how his glitched trinemate had talked him into coming, said glitched trinemate was enjoying getting his spike sucked right out where everyone could see. Thundercracker at last had the decency to take his plaything for the evening to one of the rooms this place offered. It was hard to decide which was more annoying, that Skywarp was enjoying himself in such a base display, or that a reasonably attractive and very vocal seeker getting his spike sucked in public _didn't_ get much attention because it wasn't even close to the most interesting thing going on.

About the only good thing about this place was that everyone was so intent on finding an eager frag that almost no one bothered with the few who were keeping to the shadows. That, and the practically endless supply of high grade once the door fee was paid.

Another mech had knelt down in front of Skywarp and joined in lavishing attention on his spike. The purple and black seeker tended to really go wild on the nights he could get out, and Starscream knew this was just the start. He would probably be here for the entire night and end up dragging both of his trinemates home in time for them to sober up for Skywarp's creation, and possibly his not-quite-being-called-a -lover-yet, to stop by for brunch.

As he watched the general goings-on in the club, Starscream's bored attention was drawn to the entrance as a new mecha came in and instantly that mech had his full attention.

Prowl.

_Prowl?_

What the pit would attract _Prowl_ here?

Optic lids lifted, giving Starscream full data to his visual center. He looked healthy, even after three hundred and fifty one creations carried in just over a thousand and fifty vorns. Healthy, strong and from the magnetic strip stuck to his chest, looking for action for his spike. From the way some greeted him and how he replied, he was known here, and not always to spike someone.

Starscream stayed where he was, wings flicking dismissively, and half hoping that Prowl wouldn't notice him. It looked like the Praxian had plenty of attention anyway, more than enough to keep him occupied through the night. Starscream growled, the sound too low to be audible over the pounding music of the club, optics tracking every move as Prowl drifted through the crowd, briefly socializing here and there until someone apparently said the right thing.

It was all Starscream could do to keep the screech of outrage to himself as some stranger dropped to his knees and licked at Prowl's spike cover. It was an effort that didn't even take three circles of a glossa to accomplish, and Prowl's spike, something Starscream's valve remembered _very_ well, was already emerging for the eager slut. 

It was eagerly taken in between silver lips, sucked and licked, as the slut's head bobbed. Starscream thought about just leaving--he didn't need to subject himself to this aggravation, and besides, his trinemates could get home on their own. It might serve them right to show up charged off their afts. 

And hadn't they been telling him for centuries now to stop caring what Prowl did, despite his protests? Because Starscream certainly did _not_ care what Prowl did. The mech wanted to whore himself out, fine, Starscream had a life to live, something to make of himself, and he could do it all without thinking about _Prowl_. 

Except he really couldn't look away.

Not from the mech. Not from the scene. Most of all, not from the pleasure on that dark face as ice blue optics dimmed in pleasure.

It seemed to take forever, but Starscream's chronometer unhelpfully informed him that Prowl had overloaded down the slut's intake in less than three breems. By four he was moving about again and spotted Skywarp. The pair chatted as the seeker pounded someone into the wall, and a small flick of a black wing sent Prowl looking directly at Starscream.

::I'm going to kill you,:: he hissed over comms, wings leveling out as he stared back. 

Skywarp just laughed at him, then looked over with a Unicron-may-care grin as Prowl made his way to Starscream's corner and then leaned against the wall, his doorwings waving lightly as he looked down at the seated seeker he had half-pinned.

"Here and not looking to 'face?" Prowl's query sounded genuine, but Starscream couldn't help but think of all the ways it might not be.

"Here and not looking for Skywarp?" he shot back a little sharper than he intended. 

Prowl cocked his helm. "He's enjoyable, but he's really here for spike action, same a I am. Still doesn't explain why you're here."

"Skywarp dragged me," Starscream muttered. "This isn't exactly my top choice of locale." 

"Why not? It's an easy way to burn off a charge." Prowl asked, and this time Starscream knew he was asking and not snarking.

"I happen to be more _particular_ about those I interface with than my admittedly unscrupulous trinemate," Starscream said, waving a hand in Skywarp's direction, where a third and fourth had since joined in on the action around the seeker.

"Particular." Prowl hummed. "I suppose that's one way of saying no one's good enough for you."

"I can't help it if it's true," Starscream sighed dramatically. "Anyway what do you want? I know you're not here to reminisce about old times, and plenty more out there that can help you with _that_." His optics flicked to the magnet on Prowl's chest.

"True, though you're very good with it," Prowl hummed, then shrugged his doorwings. "This does put a rather interesting spin on those two vorns though. I suppose it's good that I wasn't worth your voluntary attention given how it turned out. You'd have been trapped with a high-desires mecha for a long time if you'd gone through with the deal." He turned away, and now Starscream could see all too clearly the minute tremors of emotional hurt -- loss mostly -- in those doorwings. "You can escape now. He's well past noticing."

"Can't, someone needs to pull the glitch out of whatever corner he passes out in and get him home," Starscream said, watching him carefully. "Why _did_ you come over here?" he asked. "The last time I saw you I hurt you so badly that Soundwave had me tailed for a solid three vorns."

Prowl didn't turn back, but his doorwings spoke eloquently of his feelings for Soundwave, of the affection, loyalty and care there. "Maybe I wanted to find out if I even could speak to you again. A lot has changed, at least in some ways. I've become very skilled at coping with rejection."

"I never meant--" Starscream started, when the song playing suddenly ended and his voice became inappropriately loud. Quieter music came on and Starscream frowned at the ceiling and lowered his voice. "I'm not trying to reject you. I never was."

Prowl shifted just enough to look at Starscream again. "You did an extraordinary job of convincing my spark otherwise. Enough that it shattered every block and limiter I had in place just before I ran. There's no putting yourself back together the same after that. It's permanent damage, though I expect I'm the only one left who views it as damage." He fell silent for a moment and just looked at the seeker looking at him. "I was ready to be your breeder for however long I lasted."

Starscream's wings twitched and his gaze quickly shifted away. "I didn't want you to be my breeder." 

A low x-vent escaped Prowl. "It's what you would have had. Once the coding was activated there is no stopping it. Not even Soundwave could put much of a dent in it. Besides, I'm not good for much else anymore, unless you wanted the wealth I can generate now that there's something resembling a credit-based economy again."

"Is that all you wanted to be for me?" Starscream asked as he signaled at one of the waiters for two more cubes of high grade. He paused as they were set down, hissed when the mech touched his wings suggestively, then forcefully settled himself and shoved one in Prowl's direction. "A breeder? I know it's not all you're capable of. Your _triad_ proves otherwise."

"It's all I expected to be. It's why Megatron allows me to exist. What does my triad prove to you?" Prowl asked with audible confusion.

"Proves you can be with someone just because you care about them, and not as a breeder," Starscream said. "Otherwise we'd have plenty more little simpering hosts and paranoid glitches running around."

"The rules are in place. They apply to _all_ contracts," Prowl growled. "Even those I offer because I want to carry for someone."

"I don't _get_ you," Starscream said, wings sweeping up. "You talk about how you're nothing but a breeder but you live a full, bonded life that has nothing to do with that! You say you're not good for anything but creating but you're a skilled thinker. You talk about rules but I _know_ that Krieger wasn't an adult when you kindled a second time with _him_." The final glyph came out as a harsh tangle of static. 

Prowl flinched. "I am still obligated to follow orders, Starscream. He ordered, I complied." He made an effort to collect himself and address the rest. "I do not understand what you believe 'a full, bonded life' means, but it has nothing to do with one's value to society. I may be a skilled thinker, but it too is of no value to society given what little I can do with it now. I am of no value other than as a breeder, and my past has ensured that will not change."

"No one is talking about society!" Starscream near-shouted, rising from the chair. "You're _valuable_ to _me!_ " He stared at Prowl, and then realized with a dark flush of embarrassment through his field that the music had chosen that moment to stop, and his voice always carried well. The next song began and he sat back down, grabbing the second cube and downing it. " _Were_ ," he said through gritted denta. "You _were_ valuable to me. Just as you."

Prowl simply stared at him for a very long klik in utter bewilderment. "I have always spoken of society. It is the gauge of a mecha's worth," he countered quietly. "Something else that seems to no longer apply and I cannot change. Though I would say we are even in one respect. I do not understand you or your social coding at all. I am beginning to understand, however, why it was so strongly discouraged to socialize outside our kind. It seems that no one that isn't a high-compliance pre-prog can grasp how one of my kind thinks."

"Apparently," Starscream muttered, and gestured at the empty chair next to him. "You wanna sit?"

Prowl hesitated, then sat down. "What now?"

Starscream shrugged. "I could get overcharged and offer to help you with that--" He pointed at the magnet. "Or I could say let's go somewhere quieter and talk about what happened. Or I could offer to buy you another drink and hope that no one else notices you before I work up the courage to ask if you want to come home with me. Or you could rightfully tell me to get over myself and move on and go find some other bits out there happy to please."

It took a moment for Prowl to untangle the comment, and then he cocked his helm at Starscream. "It seems you are overcharged enough to ask me to go home with you. One condition. You sub this time."

Starscream frowned at him. "Why do _you_ get to set the conditions?" 

"Because you asked me, and I do have conditions," Prowl shrugged his doorwings. "You can set your own if you wish, so long as I agree to them."

Starscream regarded him. "Fine, I want some honest answers, without you running away, and I'll try not to start yelling."

"Agreed," Prowl inclined his helm and stood as he pinged Red Alert with his plans. "Let's go."

Starscream cast a look in Skywarp's direction--he could no longer see most of the black frame--swallowed the cube he'd gotten for Prowl and followed the Praxian out of the club. "You come here often?" he asked.

"Between carries, yes," Prowl answered before transforming. ::It is the most energy efficient way to deal with my desires.::

Starscream gave the car a frown, then jumped into the air and resigned himself to flying circles around him for the way back to his shared residence. Prowl knew the way, after all. ::I'd think Soundwave and Red Alert would be the most efficient way to deal with your desires...:: he said.

::Neither desires to interface,:: Prowl responded simply. ::Our triad is platonic outside of creation.::

:: _Why?_ :: Starscream asked, bewildered, after he got over the shock that nearly dropped him from the sky.

::It is what they are.:: Prowl responded evenly. ::We accommodate each other's needs.::

::But why would you want to be with them?::

::They understand what I am, I understand what they are,:: Prowl answered with a slightly exasperated huff. ::Just because I am capable of functioning without social contact or understanding does not mean I find it enjoyable. Would you stay with your trine if you never 'faced them again?::

::I--but that would never happen,:: Starscream said, still completely confused. ::I suppose so? But that's part of the _point_ of a trine, to meet each other's needs.::

::Even when one finds it distasteful or against their coding?:: Prowl asked, trying to be patient as he neared the tower. ::Would you ask that of them, to go against their coding?::

::But I wouldn't trine with someone broken in the first place,:: Starscream said in exasperation as he landed on the flight deck and transformed, watching Prowl's headlights approaching. ::If through some glitch one of my trinemates didn't want to interface anymore, I would ask the other, and if both did--I suppose I'd find someone else.::

::And trineless, would you choose to remain alone, or would you trine with the only other seekers left, even if they did not, could not, desire that way?:: Prowl asked before transforming and entering the lift. 

::If I was desperate,:: Starscream said with a shrug as he pinged the entrance code and headed indoors. 

::When one is the last of one's kind, one quickly learns that finding interfacing is easy. Finding understanding is difficult,:: Prowl said. ::I value their comfort and support far more than I value interfacing with those I live with. Those at the club will happily indulge in whatever I am in the mood for.::

Starscream scowled as he thought about it, then shrugged, and made his way to his trine's apartment. He got there first and waited in the middle of the common room, facing the door, wings high and tense. "So what first?" he asked as soon as Prowl entered. 

"I have a question. If a mecha's value to society is not how you judge their worth, how do you judge a mecha's worth?" Prowl asked, his doorwings twitching in uneasy confusion.

Starscream groaned, rubbing his face. "Mech I just wanna get you in that berth." 

"Please answer," Prowl said, frowning. 

Starscream sighed. "I guess I don't care how valuable someone is to _society._ I mean look at Megatron, he's obviously valuable to society but I personally couldn't care if he fell in the smelter. Then take Skywarp, he's basically a bum who free rides off Thundercracker but I'd miss the glitch if anything happened to him." 

"But how do you judge their worth?" Prowl pressed. 

"I don't know!" Starscream said, throwing his hands up. "Whether or not I _like_ them, I suppose." 

Prowl nodded and motioned to Starscream's berthroom. "Will you lay on your wings tonight?"

"If that's the only way I get you," Starscream said as he walked in. 

"It's not," Prowl told him. "On your hands and knees works just fine."

Starscream turned around once the door latched and took several steps backwards towards the berth. "Curious, why bother with the mess you know we are when you had your pick of uncomplicated mecha?"

"To find out if I can," Prowl shrugged his doorwings. "As you pointed out, our last few encounters have not gone well."

"Not afraid I'll break you again?" Starscream asked as his legs hit the berth, stopping the backwards progress. 

"Can't break me any further than I am," Prowl told him as his hands slid up Starscream's chest to press lightly backwards. "The blocks are gone, and my spark's been rejected enough times it doesn't care anymore. Not really."

Starscream x-vented harshly and sat, tilting his head back to look up at Prowl while his hands settled lightly on his waist. "If I threw you out right now you wouldn't care?"

"It would be irritating," Prowl said as he leaned in for a kiss. "It was certainly implied that you'd take my spike."

Anything Starscream had been thinking of replying with vanished and his hand shot up to curl around Prowl's neck, pulling him fully into the kiss. Starscream tilted his head and parted his lips, inviting. His glossa was met and stroked, the pair tangling as heat surged through their frames. Strong dark hands stroked along the seeker's sides, then reached outwards for his wings.

They pressed forward into the touch without hesitation. The fingers around Prowl's neck tightened and the other arm pulled his frame flush, cockpit grinding against hood as two sets of fans kicked to life together. Starscream's thighs tightened around Prowl's frame, pedes lifting from the floor. The heat earned a moan from Prowl as he stroke Starscream's wings over the sound of his spike cover snapping open and the spike beginning to pressurize between them.

Starscream exhaled sharply and rocked against it, and his legs wrapped completely around Prowl's waist. He braced himself on one arm to stay upright, holding onto Prowl with the other, baring his valve when he felt pressure on the cover. Heat flooded through his field and he moaned deeply when Prowl shifted his hips and rocked against the rim, checking for slickness before he plunged forward to hilt himself inside a valve he knew better than any other. Starscream shuddered and groaned against Prowl's mouth and _relief_ overtook his entire teek. He began to rock, slowly, sinking back onto the berth and pulling Prowl with him.

Prowl easily moved with him, allowing the seeker to determine their position so long as he didn't demand control. He moaned and continued to kiss, glossae tangling as he thrust and ground their arrays together, seeking to wring ever more intense and needy sounds from the mech under him. He ended up fully on top of Starscream, the room silent except for their fans and moans and the scraping of glass and metal. The seeker's x-vents were hot against him and Starscream's hands wouldn't stop moving, exploring, tracing. Each thrust was met with an upwards roll from the white frame, so easily that it was like they'd been lovers their whole lives.

It wasn't something Starscream thought about, dared to think about, but Prowl understood. Or rather, he thought he did. The two vorns they'd spent getting ready to create in that prison cell had been as intense as a lifetime together. For Prowl, he'd crafted himself to appeal to the seeker as best he could, and to accept that the mech under him would own him for the rest of his existence in this frame. He supposed that Starscream had gone through something similar, to still _feel_ as much as he did about Prowl and what had happened. It was something that Prowl expected he'd never understand, much as he never expected Starscream to understand him.

As the charge rose, blurring thought and focusing it on the frame, Starscream's processors could only lock onto who he was with. The mech he had committed to, no matter how stupid it was or how bad a mate Prowl was. It didn't even matter that Prowl had legally committed himself to another. Starscream wanted, _needed_ him, just to feel complete now. 

He had for some time, to his personal distress and disgust. Losing Prowl had felt like losing--

Starscream's claws hooked around Prowl's shoulders as he _pulled_ the Praxian into him, screaming as he overload. The roar and rush of transfluid into him as his lover overloaded only heightened the bliss and ingrained the need for this mecha deeper into Starscream's processors. It felt so good, so perfect, and then the charge was rising just as it began to taper off and Starscream realized that Prowl had begun to thrust again. He purred in approval and felt his thrusters heat up as he rolled back into the rhythm, pulling Prowl deep into the kiss and his frame, happy to forget about everything else. 

By the time they stopped moving, it was nearly dawn and they panted together, the pinging of cooling metal occasionally sounding. Starscream stared at the ceiling, and couldn't care that he had been on his wings all night. "How long ago was your last separation?" 

"Ten metacycles," Prowl murmured, drained and for the moment content to remain where he was.

Starscream nodded, idly tracing his fingers up and down Prowl's back. "I'm sobering up and thinking this wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done." 

"What's wrong with sharing pleasure?" Prowl looked up at him, frame relaxed and sated.

Starscream looked back through lazy, half-lidded optics. "Was it just pleasure?"

"Of course," Prowl's field flickered with confusion. "What else would it be?"

Starscream x-vented slowly. "Apparently nothing," he said, his hand stilling.

Prowl regarded him for a long, still moment. "I believe this is another coding item," he said quietly. "I could enjoy your berth now, but that's not what you really want it, is it?"

Starscream frowned and didn't answer. "Why didn't you let me try to fix things?" he finally asked instead. "You just ran right into having Megatron's spawn and then shoved me out."

"You rejected me twice and ignored me for over two metacycles before he spoke to me," Prowl reminded him. "You shoved how horrified you were at my actions directly into my spark. When I attempted to explain you couldn't comprehend. He was willing to overlook coding I can't change and offered me freedom for the use of my frame. I made the same deal with him as I believed I had with you. The only difference is that he didn't back out of it. I was given a chance at freedom and I took it."

"I wasn't horrified with _your_ actions," Starscream muttered, the only point he could contest.

"Then what? It felt completely directed at me when your spark pulled away." Prowl could feel his frustration and anger rising, but kept it in check. He wanted to understand this, and badly.

"You all but forgave me for raping you and you thought I _wasn't_ going to stop what I was doing?" Starscream asked, wings tensing. "I was horrified at what we were doing to you."

" _You_ weren't raping me. _Megatron_ was. He raped you as well in ordering you to create with me," Prowl attempted to explain again. "That's the law that Praxus deemed important enough to hardcode into its Enforcers. And yes, I expected you to continue. I was trying to _reassure_ you. To offer comfort that I wasn't going to hold what you were forced to do against you."

Starscream gave a quiet, frustrated hiss. "I don't know how you could have expected that after seeing my spark. I _wanted_ to create with you by then. Clearly you didn't feel the same and any creation was good enough for you."

"Any creation with a Decepticon was good enough to earn my freedom," Prowl half agreed. "As you may have noticed, a breeder doesn't raise their own creations. I was willing to raise yours, or at least try to. I was starting to like you. That's why I tried to reassure you." He stilled for a moment. "What brought you to like me?"

"What makes you think I liked you?" Starscream muttered as his field flushed.

"You've said it twice now," Prowl told him.

Starscream scowled at him. "Not in so many words I haven't," he said. "But fine. I like talking with you. You aren't a moron like most of the population."

"So the company was agreeable enough and the interfacing good," Prowl summed it up. "Something like that?"

"Something like that," Starscream said, letting his helm fall back to the berth. "I trusted you. That's an intoxicating thing."

"It seems like it still is," Prowl said quietly. "It would be nice to have a regular lover."

Starscream tensed. "I fought with Megatron for you," he said. "I tried to get you released and all he did was take you instead."

"True," Prowl allowed, willing to allow the suggestion he'd made drop. He'd done fine with random berthmates so far, he'd do fine with them for the remainder of his existence.

"'True?'" Starscream repeated. "That's all you can say-- _true?_ Are you even capable of emotion, or--or regret?"

Prowl simply looked at him, then x-vented harshly and rested his helm on Starscream's chest. "Yes, and I have regretted many things. I cannot regret a series of events and choices that will spare me from watching my creations extinguish in another useless war."

Starscream scowled at him and they lay in silence for a klik. "You're infuriating," he finally muttered. 

"You are confusing," Prowl shrugged a doorwing. "We are not even remotely compatible, yet it seems your coding has decided otherwise."

"I'm not the only one in this berth," Starscream snapped at him. 

Prowl just gazed at him levelly. "There are times, like now, where I am reasonably confident we are not even having the same conversation. I do not understand you at all."

Starscream groaned. "And back to infuriating," he said, his fingers starting to trace up and down Prowl's back again. "Would you ... want me as a lover just because I would reliably be available and familiar?"

"Also because we are reasonably compatible in the berth, and I trust you enough to relax around you," Prowl added. "As much as that last merge _hurt_ , you were nice, respectful, up to when you were hurt."

"If I ask to merge, will I send you into a blind panic?" Starscream murmured.

"No." Prowl hesitated, seeming to gather himself a bit. "You wish to?"

"Not right now," Starscream said. "Just wanted to know."

"So ... will you be available tonight?" Prowl asked quietly, internally bracing for a no.

Starscream sighed, wrestled with himself, then nodded. "Yes. And for another metacycle or so."

"What happens then?" Prowl cocked his helm to look at Starscream, curious.

"I'm heading an off-world expedition," Starscream said. "I've been trying to get the grant approved for vorns, and wouldn't you know it." He smiled without humor. "Went in about a decaorn ago."

"How long will you be gone?" Prowl felt his doorwings sink a bit.

"I don't know if--I wasn't really planning, I--" Starscream broke off and shook his head. "Officially, two centuries."

"You weren't planning to return," Prowl suggested, his fingers light on Starscream's cockpit. "Unofficially, are you looking for your shuttle?"

"Yes," Starscream said.

"I hope you defy the odds and find him," Prowl said softly, utterly sincere. "Either to remain with him or to return with him."

"I think there's a chance..." Starscream said, but couldn't bring himself to finish. He'd known for a long time that there was no chance. "Would you stop carrying, if I stayed?"

"No," Prowl shook his helm. "It's my function. I don't have that much control over it now that the code's activated. I can choose who, I can drag out the time between carries a few vorns, but there is no stopping without completely wiping me at the hardcode level. Soundwave's tried. You had no idea how correct you were when you said I'd been built a breeder."

"Of course I was," Starscream said dryly. He wrapped his arms around Prowl and rolled to the side, carefully resettling his wings behind him. He touched their helms together and reached up to stroke Prowl's jaw. "When I find him I'll come back."

"If the choice becomes between him and me, choose him," Prowl murmured. "I don't have many vorns left."

Starscream's grip tightened. "Because of the carrying," he said.

"Yes," Prowl accepted the reaction and relaxed into it, welcoming the sensation that someone might actually miss him.

Starscream tilted Prowl's face up for a hard kiss that Prowl welcomed. "I'm sorry I couldn't make a better life for you." 

"For what it is worth, if you'd tried that hard when I was free, I would have been pleased to accept," Prowl murmured. "You are a nice mecha when you want to be."

"And a right aft when I don't," Starscream said with a smirk. "We're terrible together, you know?"

"Yes, I have gathered that," Prowl actually chuckled. "We're both quite the mess, psychologically. When it works, though, it's good."

Starscream nodded. "You love Soundwave and Red Alert?"

Prowl was quiet for a long time, working through that question and all the ways to answer. In the end, though, was left with simple, honest and not terribly informative. "I don't know. Love is not an emotion I have ever been able to define. Trust, loyalty, protectiveness, affection. Those I know I feel for them."

"What do--did--you feel for me?" Starscream asked, and his vents froze as soon as he asked. "If anything."

"Do: trust, affection, frustration," Prowl listed off much more easily. "Did: trust, affection, loyalty."

"That's better than nothing," Starscream said with a wry smile. 

"And you? What do you feel for me?" Prowl pressed his luck.

"Do you really have to ask?" Starscream murmured. 

"No, but I'd like to hear you say if I'm right," Prowl said softly, willing to give the seeker an out.

Starscream cycled his vents and shuttered his optics. "I ... When I saw you with Skywarp, I wanted to tear him apart for being with my mate," he said.

"I'm sorry," Prowl rested his helm on Starscream's chest again. "I was thinking of the value of a creation with my processors and his teleportation when the contract was made. And I was still angry with you. It took a long time for that to settle to where it is now."

"That was my fault," Starscream sighed, curling his hand around the back of Prowl's helm and holding him. "Stay here today?" he asked. "And tonight?"

Prowl actually flinched. "I don't suppose you'd be agreeable to moving to my quarters for it? Red Alert is having something of a breakdown already."

Starscream scowled. He was comfortable, and he knew the other two occupants of this place had no desire to string him up by his wings, and he certainly couldn't say the same about Prowl's. "You'll keep the paranoid red one from spazzing at me."

"Yes. My quarters. My locks. They can't come in unless I allow them. If he goes glitch, and he will if I don't come home, I'll have to leave. I'd rather not leave your company for that," Prowl said firmly. "We can settle in and not move for orns."

Starscream shifted up, pushing Prowl to his back and kissing him when he willingly went. "Fine," he said as he stood, holding his hand out for Prowl. When he opened his door, a mostly-black frame fell into him.

"Skywarp." Prowl stifled a snicker as he watched the seekers try to untangle while Starscream screeched his outrage. "Where's your better half?"

Skywarp grinned up at him from where Starscream had shoved him onto his back. "Hi Prowl. He's over there pretending he doesn't approve of me," he said, pointing back into the common room. 

"How long have you been there?" Starscream hissed at him.

"Umm..." 

"Long enough that we're having a talk later," Thundercracker said, walking into view and frowning at Starscream before looking up and nodding in greeting. "Hello Prowl."

"Hello, Thundercracker," Prowl flicked his doorwings in a polite greeting. "Nothing critical enough to disrupt our plans for the orn?"

"Oh no," Thundercracker said, reaching over Skywarp to shake Prowl's hand. "You two have fun." 

Starscream finally got back up to his pedes. "Good, fine, we're leaving, tell the bit I'll see him later."

"He's not a bit anymore," Skywarp grinned at the pair's retreating back. "I'm going to be a grand-creator soon!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Starscream called over his shoulder before he and Prowl disappeared out the main balcony door and the seeker took off with his lover in his arms.

* * *

Red Alert was glad to see the troublesome seeker leave the planet, and quietly wished him good riddance. He was a security hazard, and a proven risk to Prowl's health, and had stolen Prowl away for too many nights over the last metacycle.

Now he was gone, and Prowl was safely tucked between him and Soundwave and plugged into both. Existence could return to normal and normal was good, safe, stable. All that was left was to drag Prowl out of the mild depression the seeker's absence had generated and back to his reasonable self.

~Red Alert: anger towards Starscream unhelpful,~ Soundwave gently nudged him towards warmer thoughts with the reminder that Prowl needed their support, not condemnation for his emotions.

Red Alert sighed. ~I know, I know, I'm sorry,~ he said, and nuzzled Prowl. ~Do you want to talk about him?~

Prowl nuzzled back and forced himself to relax once more. ~I miss him already,~ he admitted miserably. ~For all his faults, he's been good to me. I still don't understand him, but I miss him.~

~If he really cared he wouldn't have left,~ Red Alert said, then sighed as Soundwave nudged him again, and quickly hurried on. ~A metacycle ago you weren't thinking about him, what changed?~

~He had obligations,~ Prowl objected. ~He asked me to go with him, even knowing I couldn't agree. As for what happened, we talked. Before and after 'facing. I was just trying to prove to myself that I could interact with him and not panic, but when he offered ... he was always very good in the berth and valve centric and that's what I wanted right then. Somewhere in there he apologized, and admitted that he loved me. I'm only the second mecha he's ever allowed to touch his spark.~

Red Alert's field flicked with shock, and then disbelief, before Soundwave added, ~Fact: verified. Starscream: has always been abnormally monogamous. Characteristic: not uncommon among fliers.~

~I'm sorry,~ Red Alert murmured. ~He'll come back, won't he?~

~Perhaps. He originally did not plan to. Now, he may, if he finds what he's looking for.~ Prowl sighed, sharing a memory image of a white shuttle-former with red trim. ~Skyfire was his first, and as far as Starscream wanted, his only. I got the impression he's still not entirely sure how to feel about finding a second mate. He feels like it's betraying Skyfire.~

~Affirmed,~ Soundwave said. ~Query: did Starscream admit this fact, or did Prowl deduce it?~

~Half of each,~ Prowl gave a chuckle of fond annoyance. ~He admitted to it after I asked directly. I had to deduce it first.~

Soundwave nodded. ~Soundwave: has long sensed this,~ he said. 

~You said he's good in berth, _how_ good?~ Red Alert asked, teasing and hoping for a happier subject. 

~Very, very good,~ Prowl purred, memories of both intense pleasure and the safe-good-sated sensation that came afterwards. Even if neither of his companions had any care for the pleasure, they both recognized the bliss of the after and what it did for Prowl as a mecha heavily driven to interface.

Red Alert chuckled. ~I'm glad,~ he said, as Soundwave's field rippled with mirth and fondness. ~Are ... you okay?~

~I will be,~ Prowl promised them both with a strong sense that they were a large part of why. ~Like any loss, it will take time to process. I hope he finds what he's looking for out there.~ Mingled with the statement was his full acceptance that it likely meant the seeker would extinguish, whether with the shuttle he loved or in the search for the frame.

~Query: would Prowl have preferred not seeing Starscream at all to having so little time before loss?~ Soundwave asked as his field caressed Prowl's.

~This is better.~ Prowl said, and let there be no doubt to it in this intimacy he guarded so jealously. Starscream guarded his spark, but Prowl guarded his processors. ~It hurts right now, but we both gained much from it. Understanding, acceptance, closure. I'm glad we managed that. It was very much worth it.~

~Good,~ Red Alert smiled, part of him settling at Prowl's assessment. ~It wasn't really about the interfacing, was it?~

Humor flowed through the connection from Prowl. ~It was very much about the interfacing. It just had other things going on between overload chains.~

~Overload _chains_ ,~ Red Alert said with a giggle. ~Sounds fun. I'm glad you ran into him, then. What was the best overload?~

~So many to choose from, to narrow it down to just one,~ Prowl groaned in good humor at the question. ~I think it was the time he brought the energon gel and painted all kinds of erotic glyphs on me before licking them off.~

Red Alert grinned. ~You overloaded just from him licking you?~

~It takes forever, but when I have the patience for tactile it is _amazing_ ,~ Prowl moaned with that and a few more memories. ~I rarely have the patience for it. Not once I learned how fast a spike or valve overload could be.~

Soundwave smiled through his field and a wash of affection-support-pleasure through the hardline. ~Soundwave: is glad that Prowl was able to find some pleasure before the loss,~ he said.

~So am I,~ Prowl agreed. ~The last metacycle has helped heal several psychological wounds. The loss is well worth it.~

~Then I hope he may come back to you,~ Red Alert said, snuggling in. ~While there's still time.~

~Not too soon before the end though,~ Prowl murmured, a mixture of sadness and acceptance with the thought. ~It would kill him to have me carry the way I do. It's best if he never has to watch that while he thinks of me as his.~

~At least you can know if he never makes it back that his thoughts were of you,~ Red Alert said while Soundwave hummed in agreement.

Prowl agreed with a flush of emotional warmth rather than words. ~He's a nice mecha when he tries. He just rarely tries.~

~Soundwave: does not even think he is nice when he tries,~ the host said in good humor. 

~Soundwave: not a favored mecha,~ Prowl teased back. ~He likes you better now that he understands what you are to me.~

~Soundwave: hopes he gets a chance to experience it,~ the host murmured, wrapping an arm around Prowl's waist and curling behind him. Red Alert took Prowl's face in his hands and pressed a warm, chaste kiss. 

~We're here for you, darling, whenever you need,~ the security mech said.

~You always are,~ Prowl replied with deep, grateful warmth flowing to them both. ~You are my stability, my saferoom, my comfort and protection. I love you both.~

For the first time, the pair felt that he _understood_ what that meant, and that it was Starscream who had taught him.

* * *

Red Alert watched Prowl over the security camera, frowning and anxious. The Praxian was moving slower these orns and Red Alert knew he was easily in the last quarter, if not the last eighth of his lifespan. He'd started trying to contemplate an existence without his oldest and closest companion and it still hurt too much to even imagine. More and more, Red Alert wanted something of Prowl to keep in this world. 

Prowl's latest separation had been a hard one even though the sparkling wasn't much larger than average and he couldn't have very many carries left in his frame. Red Alert unhooked from the security center and stood, anxiously rubbed his hands on his legs, and walked to Prowl's small residence where the Praxian was resting. 

He pinged his intent to enter and received a welcome in response and headed in, finding Prowl stretched out on his berth. "Hey," Red Alert said, smiling. "Have a good night out?"

"Yes," Prowl smiled warmly at him and stood to greet him with a hug and sated field. "What brings you?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Red Alert said. "Up for a potentially long conversation, or do you need to rest?"

"A conversation, yes," Prowl decided easily and nudged Red Alert to join him on the berth before offering a hardline. ~What has you concerned? Has Megatron lashed out at Soundwave?~

~No, nothing like that,~ Red Alert assured him as they curled up together. ~Soundwave _is_ growing concerned about Krieger and Maestro and Megatron's paranoia is also growing, but so far he has not taken it out on Soundwave.~

~Soundwave has good reason to be concerned, and Megatron to be paranoid about Krieger. My calculations based on Soundwave's information say that the peace will last much longer if Krieger and Maestro take over sooner rather than later. Krieger is ambitious, but he does not have the same bias that his sire displays. Everything indicates he inherited enough of my programming to be driven to stamp out corruption on all levels. That's a good thing.~

~I think there are many good things that can be inherited from you,~ Red Alert said, and smiled at the flush of pleasure the praise generated in Prowl. ~That's actually...~ He touched his fingertips to Prowl's, looking at his hand before lacing their fingers together. ~You're wearing out. I find myself forced to contemplate my life without your presence.~

~Ever since we met, we knew the odds were against my outliving you. At least you will still have Soundwave,~ Prowl said gently, his fingers squeezing Red Alert's gently. ~How can I make this transition easier for you?~

~I...~ Red Alert hesitated, and hoped his next words would not change what they had for the short time they had left. ~I would like to purchase your next contract. Or if you'd rather, I'd like to carry for you. I want something of _you_ left in this world, something I can love and protect. I can't keep you safe the way I wish I could, but maybe I can keep a piece of you close to me.~

Prowl stilled, stunned by the suggestion, but behind that was a tumble of pleasure, joy and a growing awe. ~You wish to raise a creation of ours?~

~Yes, my ridiculous darling,~ Red Alert said with a relieved giddiness that Prowl hadn't rejected the proposal out of hand or reacted with any kind of distaste to the idea. ~I want something of you, of _us_ , to live on in this world.~

Prowl shifted to kiss Red Alert firmly as a shiver of anticipation ran down his frame. ~I have one primary concern for such a creation. Between us we have two debilitating glitches. It would be best for the creation if a third was involved for the frame to temper it. At a minimum we should allow Soundwave to edit what he can to minimize the risks.~

Red Alert nodded easily and moved their linked hands down between their chests, over their sparks, and pressed against Prowl. ~I only ask that the spark come from ours alone.~

~Agreed.~ Prowl shivered with anticipation. ~Our sparks are not linked to our glitches. There is no need to bring in anyone for that.~ He paused. ~Do you have a preference for who will contribute to the frame?~

~No,~ Red Alert said. ~Though I would prefer multiple mecha with limited influence to one mecha with significant influence.~

Prowl hummed his understanding and sent a list of a dozen mecha. ~Anyone on the list you'd rather not have involved?~

~...Wheeljack?~ Red Alert asked with some wary trepidation. Not an outright refusal, but a request for Prowl's reasoning. ~He is ... an alarming mecha at times.~

~He is brilliant, creative, almost impossible to throw by strange input, and so long as you keep him away from his experiments, which he would be here, he is quite safe,~ Prowl added in all the files and data to back up the assessment.

Red Alert x-vented and tried not to imagine his creation accidentally blowing up his home. ~Okay, okay,~ he said, mostly to himself, and nodded. ~His code would be a good addition to counterbalance ours.~

~We do not have to include him,~ Prowl offered. ~I calculated it would be beneficial, not required.~

~Let's see how it goes,~ Red Alert said. ~If the code is showing strong signs of needing that kind of flexibility, I would prefer Wheeljack's input to having another donor increase theirs.~

~Which brings us to how much physical influence you wish to have,~ Prowl caressed his lifemate's processors. ~And how you would like to give it.~

~As much as I can,~ Red Alert said, perking eagerly. ~While being safe for the creation, of course. I've been thinking about it--there is no reason influence has to be donated the traditional way. I talked to a medic, transfluid can easily be harvested, I could do it myself every orn. I'm sure some kind of custom spike could be commissioned, I can even help you with that. I _like_ seeing you in pleasure.~ Red Alert shivered at the memories. ~I'd like to be the cause, just not with my frame.~

Prowl kissed him softly as a surge of arousal rushed through his frame despite knowing full well he didn't have the energy to act on it. ~I find that quite agreeable,~ he purred, images of himself bound in positions that were not viable with a mecha spiking him flowing freely along with just how intense a turn-on it would be to have his lover get off on watching and controlling, and a sense that it had been long before the war since he'd had such a lover.

Red Alert smiled and his field hummed with glee at Prowl's reaction. ~I'm glad,~ he said. ~Thank you, for being so open to this.~

* * *

Red Alert shivered as he lounged on Prowl's luxurious berth, watching the bliss play across Prowl's features and strung up frame. It was incredible to watch, it always had been, but to be responsible for it? That was a new kind of intensity. To be the one Prowl trusted to bind him so completely, his arms up, knees spread by a bar, ankles bound to the floor, with a toy full of Red Alert's transfluid vibrating, crackling and thrusting into his needy valve ... it was beyond comprehension for Red Alert. It has been so incredible when it was only to burn off the desires Prowl still had after they'd merged. Now, with his frame demanding it for very real needs it was everything Red Alert imagined and more.

Prowl's frame jerked sharply as it bowed, energy surging though it in his third overload of the night. He'd need at least three more to be sated, and Red Alert was enjoying every moment of it. His own frame twinged in unpleasant desire as he adjusted the toy back down to a gentler setting while Prowl quivered. 

Almost every moment. 

He pushed the thoughts aside and focused back on the Praxian. Prowl's doorwings were pulled high and bound together, and then to his arms, and almost no part of his frame could move beyond some slight rocking from his hips. Even his neck had thick cord around it that anchored to the ground behind him, and the decorative ribbon over his optics provided the finishing touch to the scene. 

Red Alert shivered as he slowly increased the faint electrical stimulation to Prowl's valve. Prowl _trusted_ him. As much as saying that meant to Red Alert, he knew it meant nearly as much to Prowl. Trust was difficult to extend, difficult to earn, and all too easy to break. No matter what his coding was telling him, Red Alert _would not_ break their contract and by extension break the trust Prowl was showing him. Even if he didn't have the same contract-based processor set, Red Alert understood the function of it in a society where trust had to be granted on nothing more than the markings on doorwings or a transponder ping. An Enforcer who could not uphold a contract was a danger to the entire unit. Even though Prowl hadn't had a contract with another Enforcer in a long time, Red Alert knew full well that all who signed a contract with Prowl were judged based on that standard.

He'd thought, really thought, that after the first few decaorns of Prowl's frame starting to build the small factory for their creation's protoform he would find it easier to resist the desire sweeping through his processors and frame. Prowl needed transfluid and needed to be satisfied, and Red Alert needed to satisfy him. 

He hadn't realized how hard it would be. Sire coding was driving him to thoughts and wants he'd never had, overriding spark-deep repulsion, rejection, and very old memories. 

Tonight was worse than any other had been, and as Prowl started to near his next overload, and Red Alert upped the settings a little more, he felt his spike cover slide back. 

A burst of mortification was caught before it reached his field and he focused on Prowl and his duty. His pelvis was throbbing strangely, and he hoped Prowl hadn't registered the sound through his keening, shaking bliss. A moment later, as Prowl began to come down with gasps and nonsense pleas of encouragement and want for more, Red Alert relaxed, sure that Prowl hadn't picked up Red Alert's frame betraying him. His love would have responded in some way--concern, tension--so at least Red Alert could just focus on getting through their session before figuring out how to deal with this problem. 

He didn't have to look down to know that his spike was extending, and the sensation was as unfamiliar and unwelcome as the growing desire to bury himself in Prowl's needy frame.

His fans kicked on and he pulsed the toy in small bursts that were designed to imitate deep thrusts. The scent of lubricant and ozone was strong and the air was hot and sticky. Red Alert's fingers had been inside Prowl before and he knew hard Prowl could clench, how slick he would be, how _hot_ \--

A shaky, stifled gasp as his spike clicked into place and Prowl's thighs quivered around the toy. Red Alert needed to push the last two overloads and calm down the charge in the air around him. He could only be grateful at how readily Prowl would overload when he was carrying. Desire, passion, arousal, safety, trust, enjoyment and so much more, every bit of it positive, buffeted Red Alert from his love, soothing as well as encouraging the sire code to push him to do what he did not want to.

After six overloads, Red Alert turned the toy off when he saw Prowl sag in his bonds, their strength supporting his entire frame. The Praxian's vents were expelling scalding hot air, his fans at full, his frame desperate to cool down, but he teeked wonderfully content and sated.

"Shh, there," Red Alert murmured, and pulled the toy out with the utmost care and set it aside. He was careful to keep his spike from touching any part of Prowl's frame as he began to clean lubricant from the inner thighs. His field pulsed care and support and once Prowl's legs were clean, he began the slow process of undoing the bindings. Each freed joint was oiled and rotated to check for stiffness and damage. 

The wrists were freed last and by then, thankfully, his spike had tucked back away and Red Alert could support Prowl's limp weight with his frame for the short trip to the head of the berth. This part was familiar, safe, welcome. Prowl had regained enough coordination to pull Red Alert against him and snuggle in, everything about him broadcasting happy-content-sated-love-pride towards his mate.

Red Alert smiled and pulled out the oil again--expensive, the best available on the planet--taking Prowl's hands in his own and working careful drops into the wrist joints. "I need to talk," he murmured when he'd finished and began to run his hands over Prowl's frame, soothing and comforting. "Do you have any needs before I do?"

"Just energon," Prowl murmured, though his teek indicated he was quickly focusing past how good he felt to pay attention to the mecha who meant the most to him.

Red Alert pulled out a small bottle of rich, smooth high grade, treated to take the potent sting out of the flavor and held it to his love's mouth, encouraging him to drink. Prowl tilted his head back and Red Alert's engines hummed happily at the sight before him. When Prowl was done fueling he lowered his helm and looked up at Red Alert with his full focus. 

Red Alert sighed and nodded. "The sire coding is getting more ... insistent," he murmured as he tucked the flask away again. "My spike came out."

Prowl's optics cycled, then brightened in shock. "Are you okay?"

"I am unsettled," Red Alert admitted. "But I am well now. I am processing the memories it brought up adequately. There was no physical pain or damage."

Prowl relaxed with a relieved x-vent. "Good. What do you wish to do about the coding?"

Red Alert sighed. "I have not reached a conclusion," he said. "I know I don't want it truncated or removed, in case it damages my enjoyment of you. It's been getting more insistent and I had hoped that it would settle after being denied, but..." He looked down. "I ... am considering interfacing with you. I know I won't be able to resist doing so if we continue this way."

Prowl reached up and stroked his face. "You know I don't mind. I don't want it to strain you."

"I know," Red Alert said, pressing into the hand. "But I don't know if I'd ever see you the same way. I'm scared to look at you and see all of _that_. I don't want you associated that way, remembering--"

Prowl waited a moment to see if Red Alert would continue, his field thick with support and acceptance. "I can see to my own needs with the toy and harvested transfluid, much as we planned. You could watch from further away."

"I still don't know that I'd be able to resist," Red Alert sighed. Self-loathing crept into his field, that he wasn't strong enough to fight this coding and that it would force him to lose some part of Prowl, either pleasuring him or watching him, or possibly even being able to be near him again. 

The disgust with his own frame, he could handle. But risking feeling that disgust when he looked at Prowl... 

Red Alert shuttered his optics and tucked his helm against Prowl's neck. The memory of his spike going into another's frame had been one of the hardest for him to handle, and even seeing that mech had brought back the images. If only he hadn't looked...

"What if ... I didn't look at you?" he said, frowning as began to work out an idea. "If I eliminate as much external sensory data of you as possible..."

Prowl hummed. "No lights, or turn off your optics. We keep our fields tight as long as we can. I can mute my vocalizer."

Red Alert twitched at the idea of not having his optics on. "No lights, maybe," he said. "No speaking. I ... that might work," he said. "Do you think you would be able to refrain from moving too much? I could tie you first."

Prowl shivered at the idea, anticipation rippling through his field. "I can keep from moving, but binding me would be much better." He hesitated. "Would you share with me what is going on that makes it so difficult to spike me?" he asked gently. "The more I understand the more I can do to mitigate it."

Red Alert sighed and frowned. "The only time I spiked a mecha, that became all I could remember when I looked at him. It feels _wrong_ , like some alien part of me that I can't control or connect with. I don't want that to become all I remember when I look at you."

"I would not want that either," Prowl murmured, far more disturbed that his friend had suffered than he was of the disconnect. "We can definitely keep the visual to a minimum. No lights, you move by IR, or just memory if you can. If I'm on hands and knees then you won't need to touch much when we interface. I'll keep my vocalizer muted and you do whatever you need to so this doesn't hurt us."

Red Alert nodded. "I think we should try for a time when you will be sated with very little. Perhaps tomorrow you ask another to get you started but not satisfy you before you come home. I'll bind you, I can manage without light. We'll see how it goes."

"I will arrange for it," Prowl kissed him softly, his field warm with support and the promise of doing what they needed to make this work. "I will be with one of our agreed upon donors. We will make this work."

"Thank you," Red Alert said, smiling. "Maybe with the coding satisfied I can continue binding you." He nuzzled against his love, the memories giving him happy shivers. "I love watching you succumb."

* * *

Red Alert stood outside the door, resting hand and forehelm against the cool metal as he remembered the scene inside. Prowl was on his back, bound and waiting. His knees were pulled apart and anchored to the posts, his wrists shackled above his head. Red Alert imagined pushing a toy into the valve he knew would already be hot and slick, imagined Prowl keening in ecstasy, and his engines warmed.

It wasn't easy, it was never easy, even after more than a metacycle, but they'd found that with the lights off and both of them silent with their fields pulled in, it worked. He didn't need to do this forever, just until his creation with Prowl was ready to emerge into the world.

That thought, too, of being able to hold the reason for all this effort, made him smile softly before he focused on his memory of the scene beyond the door and many previous scenes of Prowl in bliss at his hands and those of others.

He could do this.

With a deep draw of air through his intakes, Red Alert opened the door to a perfectly black room and stepped inside.

He'd found it was easier to move when the room was pitch black while keeping his optics on a normal setting. Soundwave was monitoring from the security center on cameras that picked up both heat and energy to help settle Red Alert's nerves. Ravage kept patrol to make up for Red Alert's reduced senses. It was safe. 

He didn't need his vision to walk to the berth, or to crawl onto it, or to find Prowl. They had practiced this in the light until his frame knew the steps. It knew what was coming. It was quite willing to do so while Red Alert detached his awareness even further than he'd once thought possible. At its best, it was rather like watching someone else spike Prowl, which Red Alert found quite enjoyable since it brought so much pleasure, enjoyment and peace to his love.

Even on the bad nights it worked well enough. So far he hadn't associated Prowl with the disquieting sensations too much and was now sure that he wouldn't before it was over.

He moved over Prowl, the carrier's heat and scent causing his frame to respond quickly. Sire coding, the knowledge that he was helping build _his_ creation, extended his spike and Red Alert lay himself down over Prowl, pressing their frames together. 

He still didn't like the feeling of pressing into Prowl, the tip of his spike parting the slick folds that caressed so eagerly. He usually imagined the toy in his place and the colors of Prowl's valve when it was stretched around it. He gave a harsh gasp when their arrays ground together and the eager cycling of Prowl's valve around his spike, squeezing and stroking, while Prowl's frame ground up against him, eager and wanting.

This was where things could go wrong, if they were going to. Red Alert stilled, concentrating on the image of the toy, on being detached from his frame, on the reasons why he was doing this. He loved being enveloped in Prowl's field when his lifemate overloaded and looked forward to that goal as he began to thrust. It felt good to feel Prowl's pleasure, to be the cause of the building charge. He could teek the moans that Prowl didn't utter and it warmed his spark and frame. It wasn't long, and far too long, before Prowl's vents stuttered and whirred with the audible crackle of energy though and between their frames.

Red Alert bit back a groan as he spilled into the overloading valve. His frame wanted to keep pistoning but as soon as the jets of transfluid ceased he forced himself to still and take stock. If he pressed onward from here and wasn't ready, they'd discovered that the results were unpleasant. He _had_ to be ready. If he got up and walked away right now, there would be no questions, only care for them both, in the fashion they needed. 

But all was well, and Red Alert relaxed down and x-vented against the frame beneath him as his hips began to rock again. He would go until he was empty and Prowl was sated tonight.

He loved Prowl's overloads, and the muted moans, and the gasps. He loved hearing the straining from Prowl's frame as it arched and demanded, loved the way Prowl's armor shuddered in bliss. 

But when it was all over, there was always relief. Red Alert sank down, panting and trying to regain some of his strength. It would be nice, _so_ nice, to just curl up right here and turn on the lights and snuggle, but his spike felt sticky and dirty and there was work to be done first. 

Red Alert pulled out of the frame below and backed off the berth. He unlocked the wrist cuffs with an internal command and knew that the rest of the ties were designed to be a quick release that Prowl would easily escape now that he had use of his hands. He paused for a moment, listening for any sign of distress, then left the room without a word. Once outside, he quickly cleaned off the metal that was jutting out from his frame, and then gratefully tucked it back inside. His thighs were cleaned next, then his pelvis, and anything else that felt sticky. When he was presentable, he turned around and went back into the berthroom, where the lights were now on.

He could hear the shower running and knew he would find Prowl there, indulging in one of his few vices. The berth had been cleaned up and one of the two cubes of fine energon was already consumed.

Red Alert smiled and headed into the shower. Prowl was standing with his back to him, a clear invitation if Red Alert had ever seen one, and he stepped into the hot solvent rinse. Unlike the internal heat of interfacing that made him feel anxious and stifled, this heat warmed and calmed. He wrapped his arms around Prowl's waist and nuzzled the side of his neck. "Hello," he murmured. "How was your orn?"

"Productive, enjoyable and satisfying," Prowl purred as he leaned into the contact and his field reached out to entwine with his mate's. "How was yours?"

"Uneventful," Red Alert said, sighing happily as he relaxed into the quiet moment. His hands settled over Prowl's abdomen, the metal there noticeably warmer to the touch and just as noticeably distended, though Prowl was not as large as he would get. "How is our creation?"

"Shadow is strong, content, happy, and becoming interested in the outside," Prowl shivered in enjoyment of the touch and the enjoyment of carrying a creation that he would not give up. "His frame is going to be a smaller, sleeker one than we have."

Red Alert smiled and they stood in silence for a while, enjoying the heat and each other. Gradually Red Alert moved his hands to Prowl's back and stepped away enough to start cleaning. When he reached the doorwings, he moved them through a series of slow rotations, stretching the cables that had been strained from the earlier bindings. Prowl gave low, pleasured groans and Red Alert deepened his massage. "And what were you doing to get you so sore?" Red Alert hummed.

"I was bound on my back, arms stretched up, legs bound and spread so a wonderful mech could pump me full of transfluid and take some of the strain of construction. It feel _so_ good to be filled to dripping, and not just the coding. The relief in my systems to have the energy and materials is amazing." Prowl deepened his voice as Red Alert started to shiver. "I overload so hard that way when I'm carrying. The stretch and slide of a spike deep inside, in and out, rubbing all along my valve walls. It feels _so_ good."

"It sounds wonderful," Red Alert said with a warm purr from his engines. He was glad to be emptied of transfluid or he knew a description like that would send him right back into the sire heat. "How many times did this contributor fill you?"

"I'm not sure," Prowl moaned in a combined pleasure of the memories and the attention to his frame. "He kept me too deep in pleasure to count how many times he overloaded. I was full to dripping when he was done though."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Red Alert said with a smile as he switched his attentions from one doorwing to the other and reveled in Prowl's field. Prowl could only hum his enjoyment of the attention and that this mecha that was so important to him was happy.

When he finished with the doorwings and Prowl's back Red Alert turned the Praxian around and pulled him into an embrace, flaring his field out with gratitude. Prowl's pressed back, warm and full of love, and they turned off the shower and headed back into the main berthroom. 

Soundwave was reclining on the berth, all signs of recent activity vanished from the area. Prowl and Red Alert crawled onto the berth with him and cuddled against each other, ready for recharge and all three enjoying the deep contentment of interlocked fields and hardlines. Prowl was never more content than when he carried for one of his mates and he made them all warm with his joy.


	16. End of Service

Red Alert was the last to arrive at the family gathering with an uneasy Shadow at his side. The newly upgraded youngling didn't understand what was going on, but he understood that tension was bad and the room was full of it. His gaze shifted among his siblings, creators and the cassettes until Red Alert sat down and pulled him up into his lap. A treat from one of the trays around the edge of the holo-table was given to him by his carrier.

He smiled and chirped his thanks to Prowl, but remained suitably melancholy in response to the overall mood among his older brothers. The adults looked more neutral. 

Red Alert nuzzled the top of his head, but his focus stayed on the rest of the family. 

"Surveillance: shows the planet to be optimistic about new leadership," Wavelength said. 

"Assassination: holds great opportunity for creating a sense of unity," Mimic added.

"Megatron earned what he got," Prowl grumbled as his doorwings twitched with unhappiness. "The twins didn't deserve this."

"They killed our leader," Rapid Response countered, uneasy about his carrier's reaction. "The death they got was better than they deserved..." He froze as every telepath in the room cringed.

"Prowl: calm," Soundwave ordered forcefully and only just had enough strength to get Prowl to sit down, though the Praxian was still wound tight and full of rage.

" _Never_ talk about your brothers that way," Prowl hissed instead. "They were _mine_ more than those who killed them."

"But Sunstreaker and Sideswipe weren't our brothers," Tempest said slowly, not wanting to agitate his carrier further. "I agree that what happened seems suspicious, but..."

"They are my creations just as Bluestreak is. By choice. They are on par with most of you. Krieger, Umbra and Vale are of my frame but not _mine_ ," Prowl forced himself to settle enough to explain. "I have little doubt that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were involved in Megatron's deactivation. I would not be at all surprised to know one or both of them did it. That does not mean their deactivations were better than they deserved," he growled at Rapid Response. "No one functioning is telling the full story and the deactivated can't. Krieger takes after his sire."

Shadow looked up at Red Alert and emitted a string of binary code. 

"Yes, little one," Red Alert said, rubbing his back. "It is sad. Life is sometimes sad." 

Secureza was frowning. "The whole thing seems too convenient," he said. "Krieger and Maestro just _happened_ to come in to see Megatron being killed? And _why_ would the twins kill Megatron?"

"I thought Megatron and Sunstreaker were mates," Mimic said, the same frown on his face as his focus shifted to his older brother.

"Megatron: insane," Soundwave said quietly.

"They weren't mates in any context you would recognize," Prowl shook his helm. "They were mates in the same way that I was with Megatron. He held the keys. We wanted out. His price was a creation from me, but from Sunstreaker it was to pay attendance to his desires forever. Put one hyper-protective twin, one with a berserker glitch from battle damage and a paranoid, violence prone gladiator in the same space and eventually at least one will end up dead. I expect Megatron damaged one of the twins, they both fought back, Megatron was deactivated and fatally damaged at least one in the process."

"Why didn't Sunstreaker ever try to leave?" Tempest asked. 

"To where?" Prowl asked bluntly. "Not even I'm allowed to leave the city without an escort to ensure I come back. Most former Autobots don't even have that much freedom, for all we are theoretically citizens."

"Megatron: was not always as abusive as he became," Wavelength said. 

"The twins became trapped in the end," Secureza said, shaking his head. "I do think Sunstreaker cared for Megatron. He always seemed to, in his own way."

"I think he did, but he wasn't any more capable of caring than Megatron. They both had badly damaged emotional centers," Prowl sighed. "Unlike Red and myself, who were coded this way."

"Soundwave: suspects that Megatron killed Sunstreaker," the oldest host murmured. "Unreleased evidence: suggests so. Megatron: had become--" Soundwave's voice broke into a distressed wave of static. 

Red Alert immediately handed Shadow over to Wavelength and went to his mate, trying to offer what comfort he could, murmuring quietly against his audial. It was enough to draw Prowl there too, though he simply put a hand on Soundwave's shoulder and provided a steady sense of support.

The creations all watched in sad silence for a few moments. They knew that their host-creator had once loved and dedicated his life to the fallen warlord. 

"Megatron: had become violent, unreasonable, and ... senile," Wavelength said quietly. "Are his heirs likely to be any better?"

"Krieger, yes, but also more ruthless from the tac-net and logic centers they inherited from me," Prowl said quietly. "Umbra and Vale don't have much desire for visible command, but they're going to be brutally efficient in wiping out any opposition. Maestro is the least likely to be volatile, but as he ages the glitches of his creators may become apparent. Sunstreaker was not violent until he was bought by an arena and had to fight. But we also know that established gitches from damage can be passed on."

"The planet: feels hopeful," Wavelength said firmly. "Whatever circumstances caused it: that good should not be overlooked."

"So ... we're going to support Krieger?" Tempest asked, looking around at his elders.

"I believe we should," Wavelength said firmly as Secureza nodded. 

"Until we see any signs not to, I believe they at least have the best interests of the planet in mind, no matter how they got the position," Mimic said.

"They were raised to be leaders and the four of them are tightly bonded. It reduces the risk of paranoia when there are strong social bonds, even if just a few," Prowl added softly. "There are far worse mecha that could be in charge."

"Agreed," Soundwave said heavily.

* * *

Prowl felt like it took longer to boot every orn, but when he received a comm ping from Red Alert in the middle of his mid-orn nap, he did put some extra effort into the process. ::Yes?:: he murmured. 

::I'm sorry to rouse you,:: Red Alert said. ::But I need your input on how I should respond to this _visitor_...:: He trailed off for a moment. ::You should be able to see him from camera 27b.::

Prowl logged in and reviewed the feed. ::Thank you, love. I'll see him.::

::I will be on stand-by,:: Red Alert said. ::He is landing now. ETA to you: one klik.::

::Thank you,:: Prowl replied and left the comm on standby as he pushed himself to his pedes and organized his processors, with effort, towards greeting a guest he'd honestly never expected to see again, not even when he'd learned of Starscream's return with the remains of his former partner and first love.

He waited for the ping requesting entrance and signaled the door to open.

The seeker looked startled that it had even done so, red optics brightening. Those were the same, set in the charcoal-colored face, but the rest of him was much duller than it had been when he'd left Cybertron. "I ... Hello," he said. 

"Hello, Starscream," Prowl stepped to the side and motioned him into the room that still had the deeply erotic decor of the last time the seeker had seen it. "I'm glad you found his remains."

"You heard," Starscream said with a bit of a smile as he entered, looking around. "I'm glad he can rest on Cybertron now." 

"Between Soundwave, Red Alert and Wavelength there is very little I do not hear about," Prowl chuckled a bit and guided Starscream to the small sitting area. "There is high grade and an additive caddy in the cabinet if you'd get it," he said as he sat down heavily. "I'm afraid I am not in good health anymore, though I am happy to see you again."

"I half expected you to have already deactivated," Starscream said as he retrieved the requested objects. The high grade was in an expensive flask with two crystal glasses that fit together to create the lid. Starscream set the caddy near Prowl's hand and poured the two servings. "I think I'm glad you haven't, but I'm not entirely sure." 

"Two funerals in such a short time won't be easy," Prowl accepted his glass with a brush of thanks between their fields and seasoned it rather heavily with the sharper additives. "Though you won't need to make arrangements with mine. Soundwave had that duty." He paused to sip the high grade with a sound of pleasure. "Have you set a date for Skyfire's?"

Starscream sat in the chair across from Prowl and stared at the high grade. "It's in one decaorn, in Iacon. Small and simple. I wanted to ask if you'd like to attend." 

Prowl smiled warmly. "Yes. I would go for you. Does he have any kin left?"

Starscream shook his head. "He had a small family, none of them survived the war." He turned the glass around. "It's just going to be mecha he worked with, and there aren't even very many of those."

"Then you would be next of kin, I expect, unless his final wishes said otherwise." Prowl paused to sip his energon. "You did go above and beyond the call of friendship to find him." He looked down at his energon, swirling it and taking a sip before speaking again. "Do you still feel the same for me as when you left?"

"Yes," Starscream said, watching Prowl's hand. "Skyfire had no documented final wishes. He was very young. Legally, we had applied for a civil union and the records survived, so I am next of kin regardless."

"At least there should be no challenges for his chamber then," Prowl spoke softly. "I would stand by you for his funeral, if you wish."

"I would like that," Starscream said, covering Prowl's free hand with his own and receiving a smile for the contact. "How is your family?" 

"Still strong. We recharge nights together, though my mid-orn nap is here," Prowl's features drifted to a smile. "It's much larger too. Soundwave and Red Alert have a creation, Secureza. I've carried five for Soundwave; Wavelength, Mimic, Rapid Response, Tempest and Silence. Also one for Red Alert, Shadow. Silence is still a sparkling, but the others are grown. Wavelength and Rapid Response both have mates, but no creations yet. There are five new cassettes too: Storm, Cyclone, Major, Serpent and Watchout."

"Quite the flock," Starscream said, rubbing Prowl's wrist with his thumb. "How is the planet? I heard there have been some changes."

"Oh yes," Prowl's engine rumbled in an off-key purr. "Megatron was murdered and Krieger now rules with his brothers supporting him. They cracked down on corruption _hard_ and the rumbling of revolt settled once everyone had the energon they needed and were promised for their work. It's far from perfect, but it's back to what Megatron intended. Minus the bias against former Autobots and Neutrals. Krieger didn't live through what we did, so he doesn't see the difference."

"A settled, functional planet," Starscream said with an ironic chuckle. "I wasn't sure it was possible. I was half expecting to come back to another war, the way things were going. Who finally killed him, really?"

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who were then killed when Krieger and Maestro saw Sideswipe over the bodies. Officially, it was an unprovoked attack." Prowl's field held nothing back at how much he hated and disagreed with the official statement.

"You don't think so?" Starscream asked with a frown. "Not that I have a hard time imagining Megatron making someone want to kill him."

"Megatron wasn't sane in the end. He'd become physically abusive and paranoid. I believe he either badly damaged or killed Sunstreaker before Sideswipe got involved. I don't doubt they killed him. I cannot believe they did so unprovoked. Megatron had to have done damage and threatened worse to get them to react that strongly."

Starscream nodded, frowning. "At least his heirs are doing better than he did." He glanced up towards Prowl's face with a humorless smirk. "Maybe it's for the best we couldn't work ourselves out. Never know what we might have turned into."

"It would have broken you, to have to watch what I did, what coding drove me to do," Prowl gave a sad, understanding smile. "I couldn't have even warned you back in the cell. I didn't know yet. What will you do after my funeral?"

"The same thing I've been doing, I suppose," Starscream said with a shrug. "Revolution was supposed to change everything, but it hasn't. The world is just as colorless as it was before. I know there's something to discover out there that will make it _better_." His hand tightened. "Just a matter of finding it again."

"Better in what way?" Prowl almost teeked like his old self, though his grip on the process was tenuous.

"I'm still trying to figure that part out," Starscream said with a faint smile. "Glory, riches, fame, love. The world feels so small, when I know it should feel _giant_."

"You've found love twice. Maybe lay off that ambition for a while. It doesn't seem to end well," Prowl hummed, his vocalizer and tac-net working detached from his primary processors. "Riches are easy to acquire. Develop something that the masses or the government uses in bulk. A new method to generate energon. Something highly efficient. Gain control of a star system or several rich in materials and sell them to Cybertron. We have a growing middle class that has credits to spare and are looking for ways to live better while still within their means. They want all sorts of things, including entertainment. Found or fund a studio that produces it. Museums and other cultural displays for the masses can be funded to have your designation on them."

"Heh." Starscream gave a short laugh. "Why don't you control the entire planet yet?"

"All three of us are servants by nature, coding and training. Ambition and slave coding do not mix. If both exist, either one will destroy the other or the struggle with deactivate the mecha," Prowl said simply. "Even what we are patrons of we do because we value the product, not for the glory or recognition."

"It was rhetorical," Starscream said with a fond-exasperated twitch in his wings before they lowered and he sobered. "How much time do you have left?"

"Three to three and a half vorns based on my expected rate of deterioration," Prowl said with a calm field, at peace with his time and his fate. "Assuming I do not create a last time. I will not survive a carry. Siring will shorten my time by at least half."

Starscream's field froze and twisted in unpleasant shock. "So little," he finally managed. "I somehow thought it would be..." He sighed. "Would it have been better if I hadn't come back?" he wondered out loud.

"I am glad you did," Prowl turned his hand over to lightly squeeze Starscream's. "Knowing is always better than wondering ... and it gives me an opportunity to offer you a creation."

"It would kill you," Starscream said, optics going bright as his grip tightened.

"Yes," Prowl agreed with a warm flutter in his field. "I would extinguish giving life to a creation offered out of desire and to someone who loves me in return."

"I ... your triad? They would let you?" Starscream asked. "They wouldn't hate me?" He paused. "If they don't already."

"We have long agreed that whom I create with and when is my choice," Prowl said firmly. "They know my spark. They may not like you, but they do not hate you. This is a good ending for me, and ... and it would save Red Alert the pain of being the one to shut me down." He looked down at their entwined hands. "I do not fear death. I do fear being trapped in a broken frame, unable to act but still aware. Of all the mecha I've given life to, those I've claimed as mine are very few."

"Just ... just how many have you carried?" Starscream tried to avoid the current conversation for a bit.

"Eight hundred and sixteen. Two with former Autobots. Only six of which I have helped raise and claim as kin," Prowl sort of rambled as he lost his former train of thought. "Nearly a quarter of the mecha living this orn trace to me."

"A quarter?" Starscream scowled. He knew there were far more than thirty-three hundred mecha.

Prowl chuckled. "Those I carried, and those they created. Several of those I carried inherited my breeder coding on some level and have created far more often and earlier than normal. Though currently only one has gone into the business of selling the use of their services as a carrier."

Starscream nodded slowly. "Would you die in separation?" he asked before finishing his high grade.

"Then, shortly after or shortly before," Prowl nodded. "The strain on my systems will be far too high to put itself back to rights. I do not know if I can kindle again, but for you I would try."

"How much--" Starscream cycled his vents and they were unsteady. "How much time do I have, to decide?"

"The longer before we try, the lower the odds of success," Prowl began, needing to buy himself some time to find the answer. "Two or three metacycles would not make a significant difference."

"All right," Starscream said, then leaned across the table and brought Prowl into a light, careful kiss. "I'll let you know in two metacycles, one way or the other."

Prowl hummed his acceptance and kissed back a bit harder as arousal and desire flared in his field. "Berth?" he purred deeply even though his frame wasn't warm yet.

"I'm not going to break you?" Starscream asked with a chuckle as he stood, lifting Prowl's hand with him.

"You won't break me," Prowl grinned at him and readily followed. "Though if you want a valve overload instead of sparks, you'll have to do most of the work. The frame's not as strong as it once was."

"I haven't felt anything but my own fingers for vorns," Starscream said as he turned around and lead Prowl onto the berth, laying him down and then climbing on after. "I'm happy to do some extra work." 

"Should have brought a toy with you," Prowl teased, his field bright and eager as he reached up to stroke his lover's chest vents and cockpit. "I'm happy to fill you though."

"I _did_ bring a toy with me," Starscream said with a laugh. "I wore the damn thing out." He crouched over Prowl, straddling his hips and leaning in to kiss him deeply. "Thought about you a lot."

"Mmm, tell me about it, what you thought about," Prowl groaned in anticipation. His hands continued to move, his field bright with desire.

"Thought about your spike," Starscream murmured against his mouth, hips moving in small circles over Prowl's pelvis. His palm settled over Prowl's spark. "Your spark, your valve. What it felt like to overload inside you, feeling the way it made you quiver." He pressed another kiss, then paused and pulled back. "All right?" he asked, concerned by how cool Prowl's frame still was. 

"I'm all right," Prowl said. "Just takes some time to get going nowadays. I did say you would need to do some work." 

"Ahh, well then," Starscream said, and leaned in to brush his mouth close to Prowl's audial. "Do you remember when you tied me up, strung me by my wrists from the ceiling over your berth?" His turbines began to purr and he slid his valve cover back so Prowl could feel the heat. "All I could do hang on, it got me so hot my spike overloaded, I remember how it looked on your frame." He shivered and moved to scrape his denta lightly over Prowl's neck. "I thought about that. Thought about that with my hand on my spike, imagining you inside me." He grinned when Prowl groaned and rocked up against him. "I thought I'd never see you again, so I imagined a life, coming home and finding you in berth and waking you up by slipping inside you. Imagined fighting you until pinned me on my front. Imagined fighting you until I had you on your back, refusing to allow you relief until you begged before taking you into my frame."

Each scenario sent a hot flare though Prowl's frame, leaving his temperature just a bit higher until his spike cover slid open smoothly. "That would have been very good," he gasped and tilted his helm back a bit more, inviting more attention to his throat cabling.

"Yes, it would have," Starscream murmured, mouth pressed to Prowl's neck, following the smooth lines up and down. Their bared arrays pressed together, one slick and both of them warm. It wasn't long before Starscream felt Prowl's spike begin to nudge out as its owner moaned and rocked.

"Remember when we got back together?" Prowl gasped. "I remember how intense it was. You were so hot, so slick, wanted me inside you so badly. Coming right off a carry I hadn't used my spike in a vorn. It felt amazing, spilling into you time and time again until I was spent."

"It did," Starscream said with a shuddering groan. "Couldn't believe how..." He lifted his head and caught Prowl's mouth in a desperate kiss. "Couldn't believe how much I'd needed you inside me."

"You'll have it again, soon," Prowl promised before pressing his glossa deep into Starscream's mouth and stroking, exploring the familiar space. His half-pressurized spike rubbed against Starscream's valve platelets as they rocked together.

"As long as I have _you_ ," Starscream said, then shifted his hips up and back to take what was already extended into his valve. "Don't give a damn if it never gets beyond this," he said, speaking between pressed kisses, then he pulled back and grinned, wings quivering with happiness. "Not gonna complain if it does, though."

"It will," Prowl shivered, groaned and pressed into the slick heat enveloping him. "You feel so good," he panted, his processors sinking into older memories when this wasn't such a strain. _He_ still desired as much as ever. His frame was no longer able to perform. He'd aged faster than their kind should. 

"So do you," Starscream said, then paused, sighed in bliss, and rolled his hips in a slow, steady movement. His customized valve tightened in around Prowl farther than most would be able to, extra, flexible calipers conforming to the exact shape of the half-length of spike and shifting as it gradually extended. "Primus I missed you," he whispered, optics dimming.

"I missed you as well," Prowl moaned, largely lost in the all too welcome sensation of physical interfacing. He eagerly moved with Starscream, the slow pace one he could maintain longer than the driving one he was long used to. Yet what he'd said held true. If it felt good, he was game. This felt good and Starscream seemed content to keep moving slowly and carefully, enjoying what was without doubt the beginning of the end. This interface would be their final hello--each one after this would be part of a long goodbye. 

Starscream's wings lowered and stretched, covering and shielding. He held Prowl's helm in his hands as they kissed, guiding all of the movement with his own frame and power. His slow up and down rhythm was careful and precise, drawing what was quickly turning into lovemaking out as long as possible. Prowl was soon lost in it, reveling in the pleasure he hadn't had for too long. Casual encounters weren't patient enough and his mates, while quite willing to indulge in spark play and merging were not agreeable enough to this for Prowl to ask for it.

To know that his final vorns would contain a lover willing to indulge his frame dragged a deep, heated moan from Prowl with a flush of heat. "Missed this, missed you."

"Glad you're still alive," Starscream managed, and then Prowl's spike clicked into full pressurization inside him. He gave a short, harsh gasp and then a desperate cry as he seized in overload, mouth pressed to Prowl's and helm clenched in his hands.

Prowl moaned into the kiss, shivering at the charge leap to his frame from chevron to knees, everywhere their frames touched. He thrust into the spasming valve, keening in desperate desire to feel that peak again and sensing the chance for it slip away as Starscream came down.

The seeker slumped over him and he almost wailed before Starscream's glossa slipped into his mouth and the hips began to roll again. "Sorry--couldn't help it," he gasped, pulling out of the kiss for a moment. The air from his vents was burning on Prowl's armor. "Not done with you. Not for a long time."

Relief washed through Prowl's field, soaking Starscream in just how badly Prowl's last encounter must have ended, and then the Praxian settled with a moan and shallow thrust that soon became more aggressive. Within a few kliks Starscream received a ping from Red Alert that didn't wait for him to accept before the comm line opened.

::Control his frame. He's going to damage himself moving that,:: the worried voice of the estate's security director echoed in Starscream's processors.

Starscream pressed his hands to Prowl's shoulders and straightened his back, pedes coming up to hook over Prowl's thighs. "Calm," he said, and lifted up and down. "Let me do the work."

Prowl moaned and sank down, grasping the reasoning after a moment. He continued the thrust up to meet Starscream's movements, but it was a shallow, light movement.

"Hmm, better," Starscream purred, leaning in to nuzzle him. "Red thinks you'll hurt yourself," he added, nipping at Prowl's lower lip.

"Probably right," Prowl shifted just a bit to claim Starscream's mouth in a kiss. "Don't always remember my limits."

"Should I learn how to tie some strong knots?" Starscream asked, settling into a steady rhythm of pushing and pulling against Prowl's spike. His valve focused on the very tip, keeping tight, cycling calipers around it as he moved.

"Thought you already knew," Prowl gasped, the pleasure and charge rising in his field just a bit slower than Starscream's. "I still like it, being bound."

"It's been a while, I'll just need to practice," Starscream said, before claiming Prowl's mouth with his own and silencing everything but their moans as he shifted and moved. The insides of his thighs and Prowl's spike and pelvis were coated with lubricant that helped carry the charge from their equipment onto their plating, creating a delicious electric tingle everywhere it touched. As hard as it was, Starscream managed to keep an even pace. It was worth it for this mecha. All the effort was worth it to bring pleasure to their last vorns together.

Prowl's engine gave a deep rev, a physical reminder that this wasn't just physical stimulation working on him, but deep desire as well. "You'll have plenty of practice," he promised, his frame shivering with the building charge that was rapidly stealing his ability to think in a way he enjoyed.

"I want plenty of memories," Starscream said, and groaned deeply. "Everything I can get of you. Primus but you're beautiful."

Prowl's field flushed with pleasure that he was still attractive to a mecha he loved, but it was soon lost to the swirling pleasure building inside them. "Close," he panted, barely coherent. "So close."

"Keep still and hold on," Starscream groaned, holding Prowl's frame down as much as he could while he started to ride hard and fast, valve gripping around every ridge and contour of the spike. He felt himself edge to his own tipping point and fought to hold it off until his lover had overloaded, but in the end it was too much and he keened his bliss.

Under him, Prowl groaned, jerked his hips up and roared as he gripped Starscream's arms. His charge surged outward, echoing and melding with the seeker's until they both collapsed, panting and sated.

Starscream lifted his head to catch Prowl's mouth in a sloppy, exhausted kiss--two overloads and a _lot_ of work on not much recharge at all--before tucking his helm against his shoulder. His entire frame was moving in small tremors, fans were flushing out heat from within. "Missed you," he mumbled.

"I missed you as well," Prowl gave a contented sigh and relaxed into pre-recharge. "Stay."

Starscream chuckled. "Yes sir," he teased, and carefully resettled himself as Prowl's spike slipped out of his valve and tucked away. He lowered his hips and stretched out, absently realizing why the overload had felt strange--there was nothing but lubricant in his valve. He moved a little to the side, tucking his wings back and draping an arm and a leg over Prowl, helms brushing together.

Prowl hummed dimly before slipping into recharge. Despite his intentions, Starscream had to fight to keep from following.

::Recharge, Starscream. I'm keep guard.:: Red Alert's voice was calm, even, reassuring and so very unlike what Starscream was used to and the seeker found himself shutting down without even replying.

* * *

Starscream had remained quiet, trying to stay in the background of the triad's post-Prowl's-nap ornly routine so he could stay. He had no doubt at all that he'd be kicked out of the complex in short order if either of Prowl's legal mates became irritated with him. That part was annoying. Watching how they cared for him and the warmth in Prowl's field and expression did make him feel a bit better about who Prowl had found. They were a strange group, but they cared for each other. Even _Soundwave_ went out of his way to ensure Prowl was comfortable and all that slag. It could have been a show, except for how smoothly and naturally it came to all three. Soundwave could fake it. Prowl could have if he really wanted to. Red Alert? Not a chance in the Pit that mecha could lie about how comfortable he was.

He did seem a little twitchy, but the reassuring teeks and touches from his mates seemed to suggest that Starscream's presence was the primary cause of the anxiety. 

Something jumped into his lap and he looked down to see the felinoid cassette there, looking up at him with bright red optics and a rumbling engine. "Hello, Ravage," he said, and started to stroke her from head to tail. She arched and purred, and a bit later Laserbeak landed on his shoulder. The scene earned an odd look from Soundwave but no comments.

The meal was a quiet one with only a few comments out loud and not much more by comms, and Starscream wasn't sure if that was normal or because of him, but Prowl wasn't objecting so maybe it was normal.

After a while, he cleared his vocalizer out. Red Alert gave him a sharp look and Soundwave just looked in his direction. Prowl's doorwings lifted in clear permission to continue, and interest. 

"Ah ... so is it always this quiet?" he asked carefully. "Kids ever stop by?"

"Often," Prowl smiled at him. "It's rather unusual that none of them are here tonight. One of the six almost always has the time and inclination to visit. Some bring lovers. Wavelength and Rapid Response have symbiots. Mimic and Tempest will bring their creations by on occasion. When it's just the three of us and Soundwave's cassettes, yes, it's usually this quiet."

"Ah," Starscream said, nodding. Another klik or so of silence passed, broken only by Red Alert asking in a murmur if Prowl would like any more of the dinner he'd prepared and tried to hide his distress when Prowl politely declined. Starscream fidgeted, trying to make his energon last and uneasy with how little Prowl consumed. "It's been a while," he suddenly blurted, then stopped when everyone was looking at him again. A beat passed, then, "Since ... I've had energon that wasn't from a solar generator. It's ... very good. Thank you," he remembered to add, nodding to Red Alert.

The security director brightened at the compliment, and even Soundwave gave a small hum of approval-acknowledgement-thanks, but Prowl's small smile was the best reward.

"Red Alert has become quite accomplished in the kitchen. You should try the rust sticks and jellies he makes," Prowl hummed, happy to talk about the skills of his mates. "No, that wasn't a request for some now," he caught Red Alert's arm, stopping him from leaping up to fetch the treats that might tempt Prow into consuming more.

Starscream looked between the drooping Red Alert and the impassive Soundwave. "I'd like to try some now," he said. 

Red Alert brightened again and disappeared through a door in the back, then returned with two large plates of the treats, each holding an array of colors and flavors. He set them in the middle and gestured for Starscream to take whatever he wanted. 

Starscream looked over the colors and picked the flavor he'd seen Prowl loading his energon with before, placing the jelly on his glossa and letting it dissolve. He gave a deep hum of approval--it was good, even if the flavor wasn't his favorite--then looked at Prowl. "You should have some," he said.

"It's your favorite," Red Alert cooed as he picked one up and held it to Prowl's lip plates.

With an x-vent that was almost more amused than annoyed Prowl opened his mouth and took the treat from white fingers with a skilled glossa. Though it was an act of humoring his mates, the low hum of pleasure and dimming of his optics as he focused on the taste and texture was plenty of indication that he was enjoying it.

Starscream smiled and felt his spark heating and pulsing in his chest just from the expression. He lifted the next one and leaned over. "You burned a lot of extra energy earlier," he purred.

"You're both just trying to get me overcharged," Prowl countered, but he took the treat delicately from Starscream's fingers. His field was flush with energy despite how worn out his frame was.

"Prowl: enjoyable when overcharged," Soundwave stated to a couple giggles from the twins at the table.

This time Starscream was close enough to teek the bliss the treat caused in Prowl as it dissolved.

It made his spark pulse faster. "You get overcharged on a few treats?" he asked while Red Alert selected another one, looking gleeful at the positive response from his mate.

"A few, no," Prowl accepted being fed more gracefully this time and enjoyed the rich sweet no less as Ravage put her head on his lap to be petted.

"Some of these are high grade," Red Alert trilled and pointed out which ones.

"Red Alert: uses jet high grade for the green ones." Soundwave offered, watching the feeding with a hidden smile.

Starscream's wings lifted and he couldn't resist taking one of those for himself, and thought he could feel himself melting at the flavor. "Where did you get this recipe?" he asked, as Prowl's optics dimmed with pleasure at being hand fed the treats.

"It was in the recipe database," Red Alert said a bit uncertainly.

"Origin: Reaper. Stated origin: Vosian middle class," Soundwave supplied.

"It's amazing," Starscream sighed happily. Just the taste was triggering vivid memories from his youth. "Here," he said, picking another up and holding it out for Prowl. This time the Praxian sucked Starscream's fingers into his mouth with a tickle of arousal in his field as he licked the coating from blue fingers.

Starscream purred as he selected another of Prowl's favorite flavor and held that over next, thrusters warming at the sight of Prowl's glossa on his fingers. Next to him, Red Alert looked beyond thrilled at how much fuel Prowl was willingly consuming. They fed him, or rather Starscream did for the most part, until the tray was all but gone. Everyone had taken at least a couple pieces, cassettes included, but that still left more than half of the tray's contents that went into Prowl.

"I won't recharge if you feed me any more," Prowl finally protested when there were only a couple pieces left.

"We'll finish the tray off!" Rumble piped up and reached for it only to have the pieces disappear in avian claws.

"Hey, we called it!" Frenzy yelled at the fliers.

Laserbeak squawked at him and Ravage gave a metallic-sounding snicker before she took off after the avian, the twins right behind. 

"Cassettes: behave," Soundwave said pointlessly as they disappeared, watching impassively before turning back. "Starscream: is staying?" 

"If that's all right," Starscream said, glancing around.

"Yes," Prowl said, but it was a tone that left it open for debate. Red Alert twitched but looked at Prowl, then nodded.

"Starscream: come," Soundwave said as they all stood. Red Alert focused on making sure Prowl, who was unquestionably buzzed, remained steady on his pedes as they walked to the lift they would take them to the level above and the berthroom designed for all three of them to recharge together. While fairly normal, Starscream could pick out a few items that he was sure were Prowl's taste, there were other items that didn't seem like him at all. The real unusual item was the berth. Not for it's size or quality, but for the fact that it was round.

Starscream regarded it for a moment, then turned to Prowl as he came in and wrapped an arm around his waist and was hit by annoyance from Red Alert for usurping his claim as Prowl's walking aid. "All right there?" he asked with a low chuckle, intentionally ignoring the irritation from one in favor of the mild arousal-happy-buzzed teek of the other. The Praxian looked a little wobbly on his pedes, but he teeked very pleasant.

"Buzzed," Prowl chuckled as he reached out to pull Red Alert back against him, rather effectively pinning himself between the two mates he'd chosen on his own.

"Prowl: odd when overcharged," Soundwave commented as he got on the berth and waited for the others.

"Prowl: odd when buzzed," Prowl snickered back, though not even he had a clue why he thought it was funny.

"I like you buzzed," Starscream said, turning Prowl's face for a kiss, and hoping that his mates would not take offense to it in their space. No one stopped him, and from the close proximity, he could read Red Alert's even teek. When his glossa slipped against Prowl's, he drew a low, decadent moan and Red Alert's field brightened with enjoyment. Prowl's hands slid up his chest, teasing the cockpit seams and chest vents with a flare of arousal that seemed to make Red Alert even happier.

"That seems a common consensus," Prowl groused, but there was no credible annoyance in his field as he claimed another kiss and slid one hand down to tease Starscream's spike cover.

"Makes you less inhibited," Starscream said with a shiver through his wings. He glanced over at Soundwave on the berth, then past Prowl's shoulder at Red Alert. He was wary of disturbing the routine of this household, but if they didn't try to stop him or show displeasure, he would be glad to enjoy Prowl while he could. Soundwave was impossible as always to read, but Red Alert was practically buzzing with pleasure. "Up for more?"

"Definitely," Prowl rumbled as his fingers gave another scrape. "Need to burn the charge off somehow."

"Berth: suitable. Wall: not suitable." Soundwave said firmly.

"Bossy," Starscream murmured with a smile as he brushed his mouth against Prowl's, and then pressed deeper. As Prowl kissed back, he wrapped his arms more fully around the Praxian's frame before hefting him up. Prowl's legs instinctively gripped around his waist and Starscream tilted his head back to look up at him. He let his spike extend and it pushed against Prowl's aft. "How do you usually burn the charge off?"

"Hardline with Soundwave or spark with Red Alert," Prowl shivered in anticipation, but also in the strain of keeping his frame balanced. His valve cover slid open, exposing his heat to the sensitive sensors of Starscream's spike. "Haven't had a physical lover since it became difficult to get revved up enough."

"Am I getting you revved up enough?" Starscream asked as he walked to the berth, Red Alert was there every step of the way to help support Prowl's frame. Together they got him fully on the berth and on his back before Starscream crawled over him. "Feels like I am."

"You are," Prowl moaned in anticipation as his frame relaxed into the soft, supportive padding. His hands slid along Starscream's chest once more as he angled his hips and spread his legs in offering and request.

"I missed seeing you get all revved," Red Alert said, stretching out next to him and nuzzling. Soundwave came in to press against the security director's back, wrapping an arm around his waist and watching with his silent, frozen gaze. 

Starscream glanced at them and decided they were both unnerving and unavoidable before turning his attention back to Prowl. "I won't stop until you're sated," he promised, and pushed inside him. The valve walls parted slick and warm, and though it wasn't as slick as Prowl had once been it was enough. The surge of pleasure through Prowl's field was intoxicating, and not just to Starscream. He could teek it from Red Alert, who seemed to be getting nearly as much out of this as Prowl did.

He pulled out slowly once he felt that Prowl had adjusted and moved back in with just as much care. It would be easier to keep Prowl still in this position, and he had Red Alert right there to help. It might not be his favorite, but it was still _amazing_. Anything that could make Prowl moan like that, anything that would let him cover and shield with his wings, was to be treasured.

It was a bonus that the two mecha in the berth with them, the mecha with the ability to keep Prowl away from him, approved. One so overtly that it actually helped the charge, the other in not objecting. Prowl's moans and light thrusts to meet his movements, the slid of his spike through the tight, slick space that gave as much pleasure as it caused, soon tore Starscream's attention away from everything except the wonton mech under him.

"Prowl," he gasped, hips rolling in an even cycle. He could feel the pleasure under him, feel the charge building inside Prowl and how much his lover was enjoying it. "Primus, _Prowl_." The slow pace was torturous, but he was determined to hold it until Prowl needed more. "Frag, I'm gonna--sorry--" he choked out, before he shuddered and overloaded. The rush of transfluid through his spike was intense, whiting out everything, but this time when he gathered enough awareness Prowl was reasonably calm about the interruption and only nudged his hips up with a kiss when Starscream was oriented enough to understand.

"Heh." Starscream rocked forward and slipped his glossa into Prowl's mouth. After a few leisurely thrusts he lifted his helm to look at him. "Sorry," he said again, with a half grin. 

"Starscream: will last longer now," Soundwave said helpfully.

"He's always made sure I was satisfied," Prowl moaned and pulled Starscream's helm down for another deep, intimate, glossae-tangling kiss.

Starscream groaned into it, sinking forward. He braced himself on his elbows, their hips rubbing and scraping together. Transfluid was coating their equipment, pieces moving together slickly, thick mesh walls gripping and shuddering around hot metal. Starscream's thighs pressed to the insides of Prowl's as they ground together, wings quivering, x-venting into Prowl's mouth. Their moans were unified, glossae dancing together. 

"Love," Red Alert sighed in bliss, his field shuddering with the rapid pulses of his spark. Prowl's field reached for him, meshing even more strongly while he moaned into this kiss and the building pleasure of his frame.

Starscream started moving faster. "You feel amazing," he groaned, and one hand went down to Prowl's hip and slid under him to help pull him into the thrusts.

"So do you," Prowl gasped out with a shudder for the first valve overload building in far too long. He reached out to stroke the wide white wings above him and moaned, shameless of his pleasure or in sharing it with those he loved.

"Do you remember," Starscream asked, breaking the kiss to drag his mouth along Prowl's jaw, "When I would spike you until you offlined?" He shifted his rhythm, changing to a slow pull out and hard, fast thrusts forward. "What it feels like to overload around a spike that's buried inside you, filling you?"

"Yes!" Prowl arched into the memory as much as the contact, his frame giving a rattle of remembered bliss filling in the gaps of his frame's weaknesses. "I remember waking up to you inside me, or around me, ready to ride. It all felt so good."

"I know," Starscream panted, and he was nearing a second overload, no matter how hard he tried to hold back. "I--I--frag, Prowl, it's fragging good inside you." His wings hiked up, shuddering, and he moved up to catch Prowl's mouth with his. The hands on his wings caught the tips and tweaked just sharply enough to send a torrent of raw information in to scramble Starscream's sensor net and send him over the edge.

Under him Prowl shuddered and squeezed his valve. A single roll of Prowl's hips as the transfluid spurted inside him and he keened, overloading around his lover with a mixture of relief and joy. His cry mingled with Starscream's and the seeker kept pushing until Prowl's overload faded out before sinking down on top of him, kissing him deeply. "Love your pleasure," he groaned.

"So nice to share this with you again," Prowl murmured. Red Alert passed two cables over, making Starscream's wings flick with surprise. Prowl connected the hook ups from Red Alert and Soundwave without thinking about it, his frame, processors and spark all humming with content pleasure as the connections settled. "Want to plug in too?"

Everything about their movements was routine and practiced, Starscream decided. There was no permission requested, just a calm offering with an expectation that it would be accepted. "You recharge like this often?" he asked, canting his wings in negative and settling his head on Prowl's chest.

"Always," Prowl murmured, relaxed and calm at the refusal he'd expected. "It feels good, secure."

"Hardlines: encourage connection," Soundwave said. 

"And lets them monitor my processor state while we monitor Red Alert's," Prowl added, his contentment with the connection and his physical sated state radiating as a smooth, warm, calm state of pleasure.

"You should bring him by more often," Red Alert purred, snuggling against Prowl's side. "I've missed your overloads."

"So have I," Prowl mumbled. "I think he'll come most nights."

"Good," Soundwave said, far more aware than Prowl and Red Alert as he watched them sink into recharge. When they were fully offline, he looked up. "Starscream: good for Prowl. Soundwave: is pleased you returned to Prowl."

Starscream quirked his mouth up at the host. "Been a long road from Decepticon High Command, hasn't it?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave agreed. "Starscream: intentions after Prowl's funeral?"

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," Starscream said, rolling his optics. "Pit if I know. What about you and glitchy here?"

"Red Alert: will grieve a long time. Red Alert: prospects unchanged." Soundwave stroked the security director's arm. "Soundwave: will continue to serve the empire."

Starscream gazed at him silently. "Soundwave, will grieve?" he finally asked.

"Affirmative," the host answered a bit more quietly than usual. "Prowl: important to Soundwave."

"There was no way to stop his breeding, was there," Starscream said, wanting to hear it from one of the few mecha whose opinion he trusted and respected, and who he thought had the kind of expertise to actually know. 

"Affirmative. Breeding: was coded. Cycle: an acceptable form of suicide for Prowl." 

"Was it my fault?" Starscream asked quietly.

"Negative. Prowl: intent on suicide when war ended," Soundwave answered. "Breeding: only method coding allowed. Praxian Enforcers: bound by strong slave code."

"I always thought I pushed him to it," Starscream said. 

"Soundwave: has noticed that Starscream believes himself the cause of many things which can be otherwise attributed," Soundwave said, the tone teasing. 

"I think that's a jab," Starscream said, peering suspiciously. 

"Starscream: is correct," Soundwave said. 

" _Starscream_ is too tired to do anything about it," Starscream said. "But just you wait."

"Starscream: recharge." Soundwave hummed softly, offering the same protections as his mates had in this berth.

Starscream huffed, then offlined his optics and settled over Prowl. Soundwave's assurance and presence was comforting, and his mate was warm and safe, and very quickly, his systems dropped down into recharge.

* * *

Starscream stood at the edge of the sacred lands, spark heavy as he watched the civic officers placing what he'd been able to find of Skyfire's remains into the vat. They wouldn't take long to melt, a small fraction of the time it should have been. It was good the gathering was so small; very few would have anything to say. 

He felt a hand slip into his and a familiar, welcome field. He squeezed lightly. "Not even this place was spared," he said, looking at the scars on the planet's surface. "Decepticon missiles caused this." 

"Perhaps it will help mecha remember what war does," Prowl murmured as he listened to one of Skyfire's colleagues speak about his passions in science, how capable a processor he had and what he gave his fields before his untimely end.

Starscream nodded. "Thank you for coming," he said, and huffed a laugh. "Stupid sentimental oaf, he'd be glad to see me with someone."

"It's not a bad sentiment," Prowl smiled at him. "You have a long time before your frame wears out. I rather hope you find someone besides your trine to see to your funeral."

"Pretty sure the chance of winning the universal lotto _three_ times is infinitesimally small," Starscream said with a smirk before the humor faded and he looked at Prowl. "I won't look, but I won't reject it if I manage to stumble into again."

"That's all I ask. Maybe your third love will live long enough to really be your mate," Prowl chuckled weakly before nudging Starscream forward. "It's your turn to speak."

Starscream looked back out at the gathering and sighed, then stepped forward. One of the civic officers handed him the only piece of Skyfire's remains that would not be returned to the planet: a fraction of his spark chamber. A rich azure in color, it was barely a quarter of the shuttleformer's entire chamber, the only piece that hadn't been crushed to dust by the rocky planet's shifting ice. 

Starscream just held it for a long, silent moment, staring at it, before looking back at the small gathering. He didn't look entirely sure of himself, and kept his optics on the crystal as he spoke. "Twice, now, in my life, I never expected to find Skyfire. The first time, because I didn't think anyone like him existed. I didn't think it was possible to simultaneously be so _annoying_ and so patient. The second time ... well." He moved his fingers over the latticework. "He's home, now. He loved Cybertron. He was always so strong for me, I'm just ... glad I could be strong enough for him, to bring him here to rest." He paused, then shook his head with a short laugh, looking straight down at the planet, towards the core and the Well of Allsparks. "And I hope he's pleased with himself for getting me to sound like a fool up here."

A soft, rough hum of support came from the gathering, and Starscream zeroed in on it by reflex even before he realized it came from Prowl. Prowl, a mech so much younger than he was yet who always managed to make him feel like the youngling. He looked older than Kup now despite the ornly effort put into cleaning, waxing and polishing him. No amount of effort could conceal just how close to the end he was, and yet here he stood at a funeral for a mecha he'd never known, just for Starscream. To make Starscream feel more steady and less alone.

It was Skyfire all over again, only Skyfire's end he'd never seen coming and Prowl's he'd watched coming for two thousand vorns.

He felt shaky, and one of the officers murmured that the melting was finished, and asked if he'd like to say anything more. Starscream shook his head and stepped back to the gathering, grateful for Prowl's steady field. 

"To Primus's Self we commit this frame," the officer said, and tilted the vat forward. 

Liquid metal rushed from it, hitting the fissured surface and disappearing. These cracks ran to the core of their planet, and were smooth and silvery from the ages of returning the materials of their frames to the planet that had given them life. Countless frames and still the fissures were not full. No one really knew what happened to the metal, how far down it slid, only that no one ever saw the bottom.

Prowl reached out and took Starscream's free hand as they watched in silence long past when the other witnesses and civil servants had left. He was in no hurry. He knew his frame was likely to be the next to slide into those cracks, though his chamber would go to Red Alert. He was grateful that Starscream had never tried to contest that. The seeker understood the role he had played in Prowl's life, and the one Red Alert had played. 

"I'd like to create with you," Starscream said. 

"Tonight?" Prowl trilled with a small thrill running through his field that made his doorwings flutter just a bit. It would hurt, it would debilitate and then deactivate him, but he couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of giving a creation to the love that didn't have one yet.

Starscream's grip on his hand tightened and he nodded. 

Prowl lifted that hand to his lip plates and kissed it. "Then when you have said goodbye and your spark has settled, we will return to our quarters and sign the contract."

Starscream canted his wings in understanding, and it was less than a klik before he turned away and pulled Prowl against him, x-venting and resting their forehelms together. "I'm ready," he said, and stroked his knuckles along Prowl's jaw. "I need to know that you are too." 

"I am ready," Prowl promised as his hand slid over Starscream's. "I have been ready for vorns."

* * *

They returned home together from the sacred lands, Starscream flying and carrying Prowl. Prowl alerted Soundwave and Red Alert that he would be abstaining from their normal ornly rituals, and then they locked themselves in Prowl's quarters. Starscream pushed him down onto the berth and covered him as their sparks pushed together, gleeful for the reunion that had been too long in coming. 

When the newspark hadn't taken on the fifth, or even seventh try, Prowl wasn't surprised. His last carry had taken twelve merges before the newspark had fallen into a stable orbit and survived. He reassured Starscream that they needed to keep trying and carried onward. 

Two orns later, and in the middle of their twenty-third merge, Prowl was tired, but determined. Starscream's spark was singing against his, and even as worn out as they both were, they knew these were memories that the seeker would cherish and lean on after Prowl was gone.

::Prowl, you need to stop. It will not work.:: Red Alert's comm, while not a surprise, was decidedly unwelcome and in a most un-Prowl-like way, ignored.

"It almost stabilized," Prowl trilled to his exhausted lover. "We are so very close."

::If you don't stop you are going to kill yourself!:: Red Alert commed more insistently when he realized he was being ignored. 

"I know," Starscream panted. Every part of him was shaking and he couldn't even hold himself up off Prowl's frame. "I thought I felt it that time. I just need a klik." 

:: _Prowl!_ There is no point in dying _and_ not giving him a creation!::

"And energon," Prowl purred softly. "You're drained. So am I."

Starscream nodded and reached out fumblingly for one of the many cubes they'd set out on the berthside table, bringing it to his lips. Once he was fueled, he would get energon into Prowl, too. 

::Starscream, you have to stop. He won't listen to me.:: 

Starscream froze, then twitched and hissed. ::It's none of your business,:: he snapped.

::You have made twenty-three attempts. It will not work. I have watched Prowl kindle eight hundred and eleven times. I know what I'm looking for. This is _killing_ him.:: Red Alert didn't hide his desperation. ::It won't work and he'll extinguish trying.::

Starscream shook his head. "No," he whispered, then remembered to speak by comm, but Prowl's attention had already sharpened. :: _No_ , you don't know. You didn't feel it. It felt so close.::

::His vitals are slipping.:: Red Alert countered. ::Spark strength, pulse strength are both down.::

"Star?" Prowl murmured, reaching up to stroke his face.

Starscream pressed into the hand, optics dimming. ::Show me a baseline comparison,:: he demanded. 

Red Alert sent one over, promptly, and when Starscream looked at the figures and numbers his spark sank. 

It was killing Prowl. If they kept going, he wouldn't recover. 

"No," he whispered again, and lifted his head to pull Prowl into a hard kiss. "Red--he--we should listen."

"But it almost stabilized that time," Prowl tried not to sound as desperate as he was. "You should have what I have given the others."

"Your stats are dropping," Starscream said. "Even one more, the chances of permanent damage..." 

"It's worth the risk," Prowl insisted. "I want to give this to you."

::It isn't going to happen,:: Red Alert said sharply, to both of them. ::Your spark is getting weaker, not stronger. It isn't strong enough to sustain orbit.::

::Go away,:: Starscream snarled violently, wings lifting into a sharp, threatening rattle.

::If you don't convince him, his early graying is on you,:: Red Alert growled at Starscream before he backed out.

Starscream hissed in anger and frustration and pain before forcefully pulling his temper in and looking back to Prowl. "He's right."

All the defiance fled Prowl in that moment. "I want to give you a creation," he whispered softly.

"And I want a creation from you," Starscream said brokenly. "I want something to love after you're gone. But I don't want you to die trying for something we aren't going to achieve."

Prowl powered down and shuttered his optics with a shuttering vent. "I'm sorry. I'd given up on you coming back in time. I should have timed things differently."

"I should have come back sooner," Starscream said, clutching him tightly. "I shouldn't have left, I ... I should have tried harder for you." 

"Shu, we both know you couldn't handle what I had to do once the coding was active," Prowl tried to sooth him by petting his wings, such as he could. "It would have torn you apart to watch me carry for all those strangers. The alternative wouldn't have been much better. Too many creations to raise and knowing you were killing me with each one."

Starscream just shook his head. It was all true, they both knew it, but he wanted to live in angry denial that he could have changed something. "Should have come back sooner," he muttered.

"If I'd know, I'd have been sure to save the last one for you," Prowl shifted his grip to hold Starscream tightly. "Timing is everything, and ours is terrible."

"It really is," Starscream said with a barked laugh. He x-vented and pressed another kiss against Prowl's mouth. "Get you for a few more vorns."

"We should enjoy it then, after I have enough energon in me to move," Prowl gave a weak smile that did nothing to hide how much his spark was hurting.

Starscream's answering one looked just as ragged. "Recharge," he murmured. "You need it."

For once, Prowl didn't fight the suggestion. He simply nodded, accepted the cube of energon and didn't even make a fuss about Starscream helping him sit to drink, though the seeker did manage to keep him from holding the cube himself.

The empty cube was dissipated and Prowl leaned against his lover. "You too. Want you here."

"Always," Starscream whispered as he guided Prowl to lie back down. "I have nowhere to be for a few vorns."

* * *

Three vorns and two metacycles after returning to Cybertron and Starscream was having the hardest time of his already long life. He knew in his spark that Prowl couldn't have long left. He couldn't even be aroused enough for a merge. The edges of some of his plates were already death-gray and the chromates flaking off. Despite knowing that they should have warning, Starscream kissed Prowl goodnight before every recharge cycle as if it was the last.

When Red Alert signaled him to remain behind while Prowl slowly walked to the lift he knew it was time.

"No," he said, shaking his head in denial, silently pleading the security director to say something impossible. 

"Red Alert: has received a significant update," Soundwave said quietly. 

"The coding we added to watch Prowl's condition and shut him down before he was crippled activated its final stage during fueling," Red Alert couldn't look either of them in the optics. "Within an orn or two, it will be over."

" _No_ ," Starscream repeated, and wrapped his arms around himself, frame curling forward. "I'm not--I'm not ready." 

"Prowl: does not wish to know," Soundwave said, and even his voice sounded strained. "Starscream: must control himself." 

"He'll know, he has to know," Starscream said. 

"Prowl: aware the end is near. Prowl: does not wish to know exact moment." Soundwave said firmly. "Prowl's wishes: must be honored."

" _Frag off_ ," Starscream hissed. 

"If you think for a _single_ moment that I am going to let you in there looking like you do right now you've got another thing coming," Red Alert snarled with a sudden viciousness. "You've had your goodbyes, you're not putting him through it again!" 

"Since when do you have _any_ right--"

"Prowl: will suspect if we are late," Soundwave said firmly. "Starscream: may control himself or may be escorted from the property." 

Starscream glared at him, but he knew an ultimatum when he heard one, and he knew how to back down when he needed to. He inclined his helm and canted his wings, grinding out a short, furious, " _Fine._ "

With that the three of them joined Prowl in the lift and Prowl leaned against Starscream as he lifted an arm to slide around Red Alert, content to be sandwiched between them with Soundwave at his back. His field was weak, but not noticeably weaker than the previous orn. Nothing Starscream could feel, register or teek marked this orn as different from the last, and yet it was.

He _hated_ it. Hated the slow, creeping goodbye, the knowledge of what was to come and how much it was going to hurt. At least Skyfire had been sudden and unexpected, completely out of his control. 

He would never know what _might_ have been done for Prowl. 

He turned his head to nuzzle the Praxian, grip tightening.

A low, soft sound, part trill, part purr, part hum, answered him and Prowl leaned a little closer, trying to offer support to his distressed lover as they walked out of the lift and through the berthroom foyer.

"Shh," Starscream murmured, pressing a soft kiss and stroking his helm before helping Prowl settle on the padding. "Can I get you anything?"

"Having all of you with me is all I could hope for," Prowl promised, meaning every glyph.

Red Alert snuggled up on his other side and Soundwave reached over him, holding one of Prowl's hands. "Prowl: will inform us of any desires," he said, as Ravage jumped up on the berth and curled on Prowl's abdomen while Laserbeak curled against Prowl's shoulder. Buzzsaw remained on guard on the perch above the berth while Rumble and Frenzy settled into the hidden cubbyholes they favored where they could see everything while staying hidden in case any unwelcome visitors got in.

"I will," Prowl promised, his optics powering down as he relished the closeness of so many fields he cared about as he sank into recharge.

Starscream's grip tightened and his wings lifted with alarm. "He's not--you said--"

"He'll come online again," Red Alert said. His voice was static-thick and labored. "Once, maybe twice. I'll get a notice before it's the last time."

Starscream shuddered before he felt the numbness of pain creeping in and didn't fight it. There was no reason to fight it. With a heavy spark he sank down, drifting in and out of recharge every few breems to check on Prowl without fully waking up despite the overwhelmed emotional protocols that disrupted what little recharge he did manage.

When he did finally begin to boot fully, it was to the sound of Red Alert sobbing and Soundwave's droning hum, probably intended to comfort. The sobbing pushed him into a rapid boot before he realized that he could still feel Prowl's field. "Hey," he mumbled, reaching across to grab Red Alert's hand. "He can't hear you like that."

"Prowl: will not boot for joors. Danger: negligible." Soundwave said as Red Alert grabbed the comfort he was offered.

"I'll never be ready to lose him." Red Alert muted his keen. "He kept me sane, gave me a function in the army. Not that he'd ever admit that he'd gone and pulled strings and blackmail, but he did. He's a good mecha. Never deserved what was done to him."

"I know," Starscream said, squeezing. "He deserved better than this." He sighed and shifted. He felt like he'd been flying in a storm instead of recharging, his wings were so sore and tense. "We should move him to the hot oil pool, for when he boots."

Red Alert immediately perked up and began to move, careful not to disturb Prowl while doing so. "Yes, yes, he'd like that. He's been cold lately."

"Starscream: may carry Prowl," Soundwave offered. The host knew that he was the least valued in Prowl's spark. He only had Prowl's affection because of the connection to Red Alert. He still cared deeply for him, and knew it was returned. 

Starscream got Prowl into his arms and with some help from the other two, off the berth. The Praxian's frame was light, and felt fragile as Starscream walked. He didn't stir as he was lowered into the hot oil pool. 

Red Alert climbed in after them and held Prowl tightly, doing his best to calm himself before the Praxian booted. He still had a few joors. Starscream settled on Prowl's other side and groaned softly at the warmth seeping into his wings as he held his love and tried not to think of the end that would come all too soon and not soon enough. He knew that Prowl was holding on, refusing the peace he so desperately wanted so his lovers could be ready, or at least a bit more ready. So they could all _see_ that he was truly broken.

Starscream knew Prowl hadn't wanted to reach this stage of deterioration. He'd done it as he'd done so many things, as a worthwhile sacrifice for what he cared about.

"Soundwave: has contacted the creations," the host murmured, holding Red Alert from behind. "All: are coming." 

Red Alert nodded and started sobbing again. 

Over the next joors, the security director calmed and by the time Prowl started to boot, they were all sitting in silence in the warm oil, the temperature set not for the comfort of most, but to help Prowl's systems remain at an optimal temperature.

The first sign of awareness was a low, pleasured groan. Starscream leaned in and pressed his mouth to Prowl's neck. "Hello," he purred. "We wanted to treat you." 

For a moment Prowl only hummed. As his optics powered on he smiled softy. "Thank you." Then turned his helm to kiss Red Alert, before focusing on Soundwave. The host did not receive any physical contact, but the small smile directed at him was backed by warm affection and thanks he felt to his spark.

"I'm glad it feels good," Red Alert murmured. "Do you feel up to some company? Your family is coming by for lunch and visiting."

"Not sure how social I'll be, but it'll be good to see them all," Prowl trilled weakly but with genuine pleasure at the thought.

Red Alert hugged him and the four sat in relative quiet in the pool until Prowl nudged Starscream's helm with his own, a silent request to return to the berth. 

They got him out and dried off before carrying him back and settling him there, just as Wavelength arrived and commed at the estate's doors. "Is having everyone in here going to be too much?" Red Alert asked, frowning at Starscream when the seeker began to massage Prowl's doorwings before he could. Starscream's wings lifted in warning in return. 

"I will tell you if it is," Prowl promised as his optics dimmed in pleasure at the attention to his most-strained joints.

"All right," Starscream murmured, concentrating on the wing joints as Red Alert leaned into kiss him. Starscream refrained from huffing, mostly. 

Wavelength came in a few kliks later, followed closely by Mimic and Tempest. "Prowl," he said, smiling warmly. "How are you?"

"Worn out," Prowl admitted. "It is good to see you again."

Starscream shifted to make room for Wavelength to come forward and press a kiss to Prowl's forehelm. Mimic and Tempest stood to the side, smiling warmly at their carrier until it was their turn.

"It's good to see you too, Prowl." Mimic murmured as he stroked Prowl's chevron before backing off for Tempest.

"You are looking well," Tempest said warmly. "I hope you don't mind us dropping in unannounced like this, it was sort of impromptu." 

"Sort of," Secureza's voice joined as he came in with Shadow. "Try entirely." 

"Wavelength: is certain that Secureza's schedule will recover," Wavelength said.

"I'm glad you made time to come," Prowl reached out to the two creations that bore markers of Red Alert. "I would have missed you."

"Of course I came," Secureza said as he moved in for his own careful squeeze of Prowl's hand and a kiss against his helm. Shadow joined him with a smile that looked strained as he looked at his worn out carrier.

"Where's Silence?" Shadow asked as he slipped back and looked around for their last creation, now only a few vorns away from youngling upgrades.

"Silence: with Rumble and Frenzy in the garden." Soundwave answered.

"How's he taking everything?" Secureza asked with a frown as the brothers all settled on the berth with their creators. 

"It's hard to tell with Silence," Red Alert said, sighing as he drew Prowl to lean against him, now that everyone had had a chance squeeze his hand. "He's been less emotive than normal, though that isn't really saying much." 

"Silence: has increased communication with text by 60%," Soundwave said. "Conclusion: emotional detachment."

"It's not a surprise to him, but I expect it still hurts," Prowl murmured.

"Situation: is not a surprise for any of us, but it still hurts," Wavelength said with a sad smile. "Jazz and Whiplash asked me to send their greetings."

Prowl hummed his thanks. "They're still treating you well?"

"You would know if they weren't," Wavelength said. Temptest leaned against his older brother and Shadow curled up on Red Alert's other side. Starscream shifted to make more room for the creations. They all settled and chatted for a while before the last creation finally arrived. 

Tempest snorted as Rapid Response came in with an apology. "Some rapid response," he said. 

"Hey, gimmie a break, I was on a moon!" Rapid Response said, going right to Prowl and kissing his forehelm. "How are you feeling?"

"Ready," he gave his favored creation, the only one to go into public service, a weak smile. "Though I'm the only one who is."

The mood in the room immediately sobered, and no one said anything for nearly a klik. 

"You're right," Starscream finally said, pressing a kiss to Prowl's helm. "You are the only one." 

"We're glad to have a chance to tell you how much we will miss you," Mimic said. 

"And love you," Shadow said.

Prowl smiled softly, his field dim but warm towards them all. "With effort and luck, some of you may reach the same point before you extinguish. It's a nice place to be for the end. Much better than merely accepting it's time."

"You should have had longer," Starscream whispered.

"I shouldn't have survived Praxus. Nothing past that is about should or even sane," Prowl reminded him, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm still angry about that at random moments."

"You have every right to be," Red Alert said, frowning. 

"Bursts of unusual emotion: will not be unusual," Soundwave added. "Desire to extinguish: older than war."

Prowl's helm snapped around fast enough he lost all track of his own balance. Red Alert screeched in alarm when he slumped and Starscream grabbed for him, wings jumping up with his own shriek before Soundwave slammed out a demand for **calm**. Wavelength helped, and Rapid Response joined in a moment later until the gathering--prone to all kinds of glitches, upsets, and anxiety attacks--was still. 

Starscream held Prowl tightly, trembling. "Don't scare us like that," he growled, while Red Alert took either side of Prowl's helm in his shaking hands, pressing their forehelms together. 

"What happened?" the security director asked.

"How the _Pit_ could you know that?" Prowl hissed at Soundwave, though his hand came up to reassure Red Alert. " _I_ don't know that."

"Prowl's processors: open to Soundwave. Hardline during recharge: long-term habit. Soundwave: sought to understand Prowl's illogical desires. Traced back: within orns of activation. Prowl: unable to cope with failure of original function," Soundwave explained. "Prowl: never desired _life_."

"Just proves they called the right spark for what they'd wanted," Prowl grumbled even as he settled, most of his energy spent in the outburst. "Always meant to be a breeder. The rest was just passing time."

"You did so much good for me before you were a breeder," Red Alert said, kissing him. 

"Saved a planet while you were 'just passing time,'" Starscream said.

"The war would have ended much faster without me," Prowl murmured as he tried to trace what the conversation was really about and why he was debating any of this. His opinion would no longer matter very long. "I'm sorry we did not meet in a different time and place," he whispered to Red Alert, giving voice to something he had long known. "Things could have been much better."

"I know," Red Alert said, forcing a smile. "I know, love. Different time, different frames." His hand pressed to Prowl's chest. "It would have been better."

Prowl huffed quietly through his vents and pressed weakly into the touch even as he reached out for his other mates as he began to drift into recharge. "In some universe things worked out better."

Red Alert nodded, a sob shuddering through his vents. The statement was illogical, fantastical, uncharacteristically delusional. 

"Prowl," Starscream said quietly, brokenly.

"Still here," Prowl managed despite being most of the way through shutdown. "Never expected so many to grieve me. Not our way. Kinda like it though."

His systems slowed down and then dropped offline. His field was still teekable, but it was faint. 

" _Prowl?_ "

"Prowl: will not come online again," Soundwave said into the answering silence. 

It shattered when Starscream screamed and Red Alert started sobbing and shaking, holding his mate's frame. Soundwave immediately reached out to him and plugged in, working Red Alert through a slow reboot to help avoid glitching from the shock. 

"Damn you, come back!" Starscream moaned as Red Alert slumped offline. "I never-- _damn it!_ "

The younger mecha remained quiet, uneasy and grieving but less emotionally invested in a mecha who had never really bonded with them.

"Prowl's processors: have finished the final shut-down sequence as per the virus," Wavelength reported to a soft whine from Ravage. "Prowl's spark: will follow within three kliks. Prowl will know no pain from this. This: as gentle an end as we know how to give."

Starscream just shook his helm and shuddered. Soundwave brought Red Alert into back online through a gentle boot, leaving all the information he would need present so that he could be aware for the frame's final moments. Wavelength announced one klik left as Red Alert draped himself over the frame, sobbing. Shadow accepted a squirming but silent Silence from Rumble and they all watched. Nine mecha and nine cassettes watched the carrier of so many lives give a last audible x-vent as his frame finished shutting down and slowly began to gray.

Red Alert wailed and threw himself over the frame, pressing his helm to it as he sobbed. Starscream just shuddered and clutched the empty shell in silence. Soundwave rubbed Red Alert's back as the creations all touched Prowl's frame one by one before filtering out, Shadow and Silence leaving last after the sparkling had touched his carrier's face and then flashed his visor with a single glyph-- _Sad_ \--before reaching for Shadow. 

"Love," Soundwave murmured, holding his arms out for Red Alert. The security director crawled into them, crying against his chest. Rumble and Frenzy came over, curling up in their host's lap next to him. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw leaned against each other, and Ravage jumped onto Starscream's shoulder, whining. No matter how much they had prepared, none of them were ready for this moment.

* * *

Red Alert had grown generally numb to the ornly goings on of the estate. He monitored the security, took care of Silence, recharged, and fueled when Soundwave pressed a cube into his hands. 

Soundwave was organizing the funeral--at this point just a matter of scheduling an officiate and reaching out to the few who might come. It would be in a few orns, and Red Alert was glad not to have to worry about it. Starscream had retreated to Prowl's private quarters and hadn't come out since his deactivation. He'd let his trine in but hadn't spoken to them or even really moved. They'd left after a while. 

Red Alert twitched when he received an incoming comm from a frequency unused in centuries. He accepted it with nothing more than a ping of acknowledgment. 

::I heard about Prowl,:: Ratchet said. ::I'm so sorry. I just wondered ... when will his funeral be?::

::Relevance?:: Red Alert shot back with only a fraction of the anger he felt in his tone.

::I wanted to attend,:: Ratchet said, sounding bewildered. ::And pay my respects.::

::Prowl doesn't want your respects,:: Red Alert spat. ::Why would he want someone who hated him at his funeral? No. You are not coming. Neither is anyone else who isn't welcome. You mecha did enough harm to him already. One thing, this _one thing_ is going to go as he wished. I'm not going to fail him again.::

::Red, I--:: Ratchet sounded shocked. ::I didn't hate him, what made you think that! I helped you, both of you!::

::Oh, I don't know, maybe what you said when he visited you in the cell. Maybe that you ignored his wishes after Onslaught. Maybe that you're an Autobot by choice,:: Red Alert bit out. ::Maybe because it's your kind that created the coding that he's finally escaped.::

Silence answered him, then a wave of shocked subharmonics. ::You stood by while I saved him,:: Ratchet finally said. ::You wanted me to keep working! _Red_... If you don't want me there I won't be, but I never wanted to hurt you, or him.::

::I said I failed him. I couldn't make myself stop you when the words of his intentions weren't enough. Yes, I wanted him to live. In my weakness I failed him, but you overrode him when you had all the power.:: Red Alert keened, the agony of those moments surging back.

The line abruptly shifted owners. ::Ratchet: is not welcome. Intentions: irrelevant. Fact: Ratchet harmed all pre-prog mecha under Ratchet's control greatly. Fact: pre-prog mecha not like your kind. Ratchet: will not contact Red Alert again. Attempt: will result in deactivation. Ratchet: understands?::

::Ratchet ... understands,:: the medic said slowly, shocked, and then the connection cut.

Halfway across the planet, in a rural city, still new, barely constructed, the red and white medic stared at his hands. He'd long thought of Red Alert as an old friend, someone he'd worked closely with to help manage his condition. He knew that mech's processors inside and out, knew the signature and hallmarks of his sensory glitch, how to break him out of an attack and how to boot him safely. Had he really _harmed_ him? 

The mech would have deactivated centuries ago, early in the war if Ratchet hadn't been there, hadn't worked with him. And Prowl. He'd done much the same with that logic-bound processor so tangled up with a black box of a tac-net and logic chips it was a miracle he could function in the real world at all, much less in the chaos of war. Prowl had worked so diligently for the cause, to protect the Autobots. He'd survived and persevered over so much. How could he not have wanted to live? How could he have served so well if he hadn't wanted to be an Autobot?

Prowl wasn't a plant or a traitor. Ratchet was sure of that much after watching him once he was able to keep track of him again. No one treated such a hero the way Megatron and society treated Prowl. No, if Prowl had Decepticon sympathies he would have been hailed for it. Instead he had some of the worst treatment of any Autobot.

What was going on with those two?

He sighed and looked out the window at the new city. Still small, still under-funded, but the government under Krieger's care--because it was Krieger, and not the true heir, Maestro, who unquestionably controlled things--had done more for growth than almost all of Megatron's time as their leader. His thoughts shifted back to those orns spent in the plush prison cell, accepting Hook's advances because it meant something better than labor. It meant a way to break back into the medical profession. 

Prowl and Red Alert had been among the first pre-progs he'd ever encountered. Pre-prog specialties had been nonexistent back then, with crude jokes about how anyone with a working pistol could perform medical care for a broken one. It had been strange, but once Ratchet had realized that they were _people_ ... he'd striven to help them as much as any patient.

What hadn't he learned? Had they kept it from him deliberately, or ... why would anyone need to escape _coding?_

Ratchet jerked with a deepening sense of dread. The only coding one had to escape was either glitch-inducing, or slave code. He knew it wasn't the first. There was no way either of them could believe he wasn't treating their glitch with compassion and a genuine desire to help them. They'd both commented on it at different times, how he'd been the first outsider to even try.

He needed to look at Prowl's coding, at Red Alert's coding. Without, the next best thing was the mech who lived with them and was clearly protecting them.

::Soundwave,:: he pinged the host, hoping he'd be answered.

He was met with the hum of an open line, one with cold, threatening subharmonics rolling across it. ::Soundwave: is attempting to calm Red Alert. Ratchet: should hope he has an acceptable reason for initiating contact.::

::They're slave-coded, aren't they?:: Ratchet privately hoped he had a good enough reason too.

There was a long, long silence, but the line remained open, and Ratchet took it as a good sign.  
   
Finally, Soundwave answered, ::Affirmative.:: There was another pause while Ratchet tried to organize his thoughts for a response, but Soundwave began speaking again. ::Prowl: desired deactivation long before outbreak of war. Coding: prevented all but passive attempts. One attempt: requesting no measures be taken in case of severe physical trauma.::

::Carrying so often was another,:: Ratchet whispered as he became even more sick to his tanks. ::Why ... why create mecha like them? Why couldn't they _tell_ me?::

::Slaves: prevented,:: Soundwave said, and the brittle edge had gone from his voice. ::Medics: designated as potential risks. Medics: capable of merciful euthanasia. Act: too risky. Slaves: bound to survive unless by natural causes or authority's direction.::

::Were ... were they both forced to become Autobots by that code?:: Ratchet asked, dreading the answer he was growing certain of.

::Affirmative,:: Soundwave said.

Ratchet's optics darkened as he tried to wrangle with that. If Optimus had known, he'd have done _anything_ to strip that coding. As it was... ::Soundwave, can the coding be removed?::

::Negative,:: Soundwave said, then paused. ::Correction: not past youngling upgrades. Krieger: had coding stripped just before. Prowl: discreetly arranged for stripping of later creations. Soundwave: attempted to strip from Prowl and Red Alert after Red Alert unsuccessfully attempted to deactivate Prowl. Conclusion: impossible.::

Ratchet allowed an x-vent of relief to escape. ::Soundwave, I know I'm not popular with you right now, but I _am_ a good medic and I mean well. If I can help out with anything, let me know. I never meant to hurt either of them.::

::Soundwave: understands. Ratchet: will stay away from Soundwave's family with the exception of Starscream under threat of lethal force,:: the host said calmly.

::Unless they come looking for me,:: Ratchet countered. ::I will make all reasonable efforts to avoid contact. You know I'm living far from where any of them reside. I have no plans to move or travel.::

There was a slight pause, and then ::Soundwave: agrees. Reasonable effort: is sufficient.::

Before Ratchet could reply, the line closed.

* * *

For a mecha who had brought 816 new lives into the world by nearly as many sires, Prowl's funeral attendance was tiny. His three mates stood in the front, the seven creations he had raised and Bluestreak behind them. Despite the fuss of denying the Supreme Commander the ceremonies and grandstanding he wished, approval had been granted to perform this in Praxus's burial grounds. The civic officers needed were paid well and drilled to follow the variant of the ceremony that was native to Praxus. 

Soundwave held Red Alert close to his side, soothing the twitches with field, hand and mind as needed. At his other side stood Starscream. The seeker was still, his field numb. The seeker had barely moved or spoken since Prowl's deactivation beyond what was necessary. If he searched, Soundwave could find waves of self-disgust, frustration, grief, and anger. None of it showed externally. Behind them, Bluestreak was crying quietly. It had been louder earlier, but Starscream had turned around and snapped at him to cease his blubbering. Now the gathering was standing in relative silence as Prowl's remains began to melt.

The civic officer in charge stepped forward and began the ceremony with the reading of Prowl's last wishes to the living. "Prowl of Praxus is survived by three mates, seven creations and one adopted creation. He was preceded by three adopted creations: Smokescreen, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. His Last Wishes are as follows: 

"'To my legal bonded mates I leave my estate in its entirety as per custom and law, except for the items explicitly gifted to others.

"'To Bluestreak, my adopted creation during the war, who has given so much more than he has asked for, I grant one percent of my estate in credit value and all artifacts of Praxian origin.

"'To Starscream, my mate of so much turmoil, I grant all artifacts of Vosian origin and the proceeds of account 10587563-965634-09764. It should be sufficient that you never need to beg for funding again.

"'To the creations I helped raise, I offer both my apology for my failings and a reminder of how proud I am of you all.'" The officer paused there to allow a klik of silence for those named to reflect before he continued. "Bluestreak, eldest surviving adoptive creation of Prowl, do you wish to speak of him?"

"I do," Bluestreak said, coming forward to stand before the small gathering. He took a moment to gather himself, then offered a smile. "Prowl helped me survive the destruction of Praxus," he began. "He was patient with me, he always listened, he took the time to understand and help me like no one else at the time. After the war, he helped me in other ways, ways that will always be part of me." He continued to talk of Prowl's dedication and love, his loyalty and strength, and how much he had meant not just for Bluestreak, but for the planet, whether he'd wanted to realize it or not. When he finished, he turned to look at the remains, pressed his fingers to his mouth, and then touched the outside of the vat. "May your spark find peace," he murmured, and moved back. 

The civil officer waited a beat, and then spoke again, this time inviting Secureza up to speak. He moved through the other creations in order of age, each of them saying something in Prowl's memory, until he reached Silence, and for this he turned to Red Alert. "May Silence, youngest creation of Prowl, speak of him if he so wishes?" 

"Yes," Red Alert looked at their youngest, silently asking if he wished to communicate anything to the group.

Silence looked back, his visor completely blank but for the thin blue line that traveled across it that showed he was online. Most of the time, it served as a visual representation of his field, but as he'd aged, he'd gained more control of it. After a moment, he nodded once, let go of Shadow's hand and stepped forward. He faced the vat for a long, silent klik, and then spoke without turning around. "Prowl: is happier now." And with that, he walked back to Shadow and lifted his arms to be held.

"Starscream?"

Starscream cycled through his vents and stepped forward, also facing the vat instead of the gathering. He held his hand up, close enough to feel the heat, and bowed his head. "I wasn't expecting you," he said quietly. "I didn't want you. And I do wish I had never met you. And I told you all of that, but here's the one thing I never said. I know you knew, but I want it on the record. I love you." His wings shuddered and he pressed his palm to the vat, hissing sharply as the heat began to melt the thin outer plating. "Frag you for ruining me," he hissed quietly. "I hope you get the eternity you deserve." And with that he pulled his injured hand away and moved back to stand next to Soundwave.

"Soundwave?"

Soundwave simply shook his head, and the officer called the last designation, the mecha listed as the closest next of kin.

Red Alert gave a sob, but managed to control himself when it was his turn. He twitched as he faced the small group, mecha who had lived with him for many vorns. "Prowl was a good mecha. He cared about those he commanded even when he had no choice about which side to fight on. He kept those in his charge safe, placed them to best effect. He saved more of us than were listed. The five of us were simply those he felt close to, who he claimed as his surrogate unit, his family. For as long as I knew him, he never gave up. This," he motioned to the smelter, "This was his goal for a long time. As much as it hurts, we need to be happy for him. For the peace he finally has free of outside forces."

He turned to the smelter with a sad smile. "I love you, my dear spark. Rest in peace."

The civic officer waited a beat, and then stepped forward with Prowl's spark chamber and handed it to Red Alert. 

The red and white mecha shuddered as he took it, then tried to curl around it as he sobbed.

"From this world our frames are formed. To this world our frames return. Be one with Cybertron, Prowl." The officer closed the ceremony.

Those gathered repeated the words, and the officer tipped the vat forward. The silvery-gray liquid flowed forth onto the sacred land, vanishing into the planet's surface. 

Soundwave was at Red Alert's side immediately, holding him and protecting him with frame, field, and mind. Starscream stared at the shining land, and the creations looked to each other for support. Like it was for the leader of this strange clade, silence was the comfort of most and a trusted touch the sanctuary they needed. Wavelength was the first to slip away to seek solace with his mates, mecha who had not been invited, and Bluestreak was quick to follow.

The others stayed for varying times, but eventually it was only the three eldest standing there. Two bound closely together and one a bit apart.

Soundwave and Red Alert both heard the roar of seeker engines flying close, the thunder of Starscream taking off to join his trinemates in flying out his grief, but neither reacted nor cared.

In time it was Rapid Response who came for them and nudged them gently into the transport, then ensured they had energon and no intention of deactivating while his cassettes grieved with Soundwave's.


	17. A Touch of Hope

Starscream sat alone on the roof of the compound he lived in with his trine again. Living mostly apart from them for those three vorns had been troubling, but after the centuries-long absence, nothing very difficult. They had each other, and they had welcomed him back like family the moment he'd returned. 

Life went on as normal, with the exception of now being rich. There were minor stipulations on the account Prowl had gifted him, such as its use, and how much was to be left in it in order for it to replenish. Starscream didn't question, he just planned and researched and planned some more. It was the only thing that would take his mind off Prowl, and sometimes Skyfire. 

His wing twitched when it picked up on movement from behind and he turned around with a snarl. "I told you to--" But it wasn't his trine standing there, it was Dark Sky, Skywarp's creation from Prowl. 

The charcoal-colored seeker offered a smile. "Hey," he said. "You wanna come back in for a while?" 

"Not really." Starscream scowled, but he stood to walk inside anyway.

"Skywarp and Thundercracker took off, don't worry. They won't ambush you," Dark Sky said as they headed down. "They told me you were probably pretty fed up with them." 

Starscream snorted. "You'd think a mech was incapable of refueling. I survived--" 

"--You survived the Great War and an ice age, I know, Uncle Screamer," Dark Sky said teasingly, using the old nickname from his youth. 

Starscream frowned at him. "And when did you get so old, anyway?" he asked, like he was seeing his creation-by-trine for the first time in centuries--which, really, wasn't all that far off. 

Dark Sky laughed. "Oh, a while ago," he said. "Got someone I want you to meet." 

"You finally trined?" Starscream asked the only thing he could think of, only to cringe when he realized he'd been told about Switchback and Tradewinds already. "Umm, mate?"

Dark Sky just smiled. "Close," he said, and stopped Starscream with a tilt of his wings. "I wasn't sure, but Thundercracker and Skywarp thought ... well, I think they're hoping it might help. Prowl carried me, and I ... well." He turned and lead Starscream into the small berthroom that had been his as a sparkling, now converted into an office. "I carried Dusklight." He leaned over the edge of a small gated pen that Starscream didn't remember being in there an orn ago and lifted a sparkling out. He was small, not even a vorn old, and with barely any armor. Dark Sky turned back around. "Would you like to hold him?"

"You're sure?" Starscream asked even as he held his arms out for the tiny sparkling that was only barely able to walk. His spark lightened a bit, seeing Prowl in the little frame, much as he was always drawn to Dark Sky's flattened red chevron.

"'Course I'm sure," Dark Sky said as he settled his creation into Starscream's arms. "You never dropped me anyway." 

Starscream just nodded, touching the sparkling's helm with a single finger. Dusklight chirped at him and reached for the digit and held onto it tightly. The buds that would one orn become wings were still barely developed and ice blue optics flickered up at Starscream. "Hello there," Starscream murmured, smiling. 

"I know it isn't the same as having one from him--" Dark Sky began, then held his hands up disarmingly at Starscream's sharp look. "You know Skywarp can't keep secrets. I'm sorry that I know, but I know. Anyway, I know it isn't the same, but I'd really like you to be part of his life."

"Your trine sired him?" Starscream asked to deflect away from answering right away. He knew he would be, he wanted it enough so much his spark ached, but he would not appear desperate.

Dark Sky nodded, watching his creation watching Starscream. "In spark, and they helped with the frame, but he's mostly of my frame."

"Why did you choose that?" Starscream asked, looking at the tiny sparkling in his arm, wiggling his fingers for the pale optics to focus on.

Dark Sky chuckled. "I think I was thinking something like experiencing carrying in full, but mostly it just made me exhausted and irritable. And when I say irritable, I mean I was compared to you throwing a fit several times an orn." He grinned hugely at Starscream's frowning glance. "Won't be doing it that way again, but it was worth it for this little one."

"Will he have your chevron?" Starscream asked, barely paying attention to the conversation.

"I think so," Dark Sky said. "Probably not as big as mine, but I think it'll be there. Dusk, say hello. This is Starscream, he knew your grand-carrier." 

Dusklight chirred curiously, then chirped a soft, shy, "Hello." 

"He's very quiet and mellow," Dark Sky said with a smile. "At first I was worried something might be wrong, but every medic I've seen tells me it's just how he is.'

"Prowl's spark was like that," Starscream found himself saying, his optics distant. "It was calm, sweet, warm. Nothing at all like his personality."

"I'd heard that about him." Dark Sky watched the scene for a moment. "I hope it isn't too soon," he murmured after another klik. "I'm sorry, I hope it isn't too soon to meet him."

"No," Starscream responded. "I'll never be ready to move on. I'm not over Skyfire. I won't get over Prowl. It's ... good to see a bit of him at the right age."

"You're welcome to see him whenever you want," Dark Sky said, reaching over to rub Starscream's wing. "Will you be all right with him if I sit on the roof for a while?"

"I ... yes," Starscream almost managed a smile. "I'll be fine with him for a while."

"All right," Dark Sky said, touched their helms together and looked down at Dusklight. "Behave, Dusk." 

"I will," the sparkling said. 

"I know," Dark Sky said with a smile, nuzzled Starscream once more, and left. 

Starscream walked over to one of the window lounges, settling down against the pillows so that they could both look out over the city. Dusklight trilled happily at the view, then hesitated and looked up at the adult. 

"Why are you sad?" he asked.

"My mate deactivated. I miss him," Starscream answered with an honesty that surprised him.

"Oh," Dusklight said. "Why can't he come back?"

"One does not come back from deactivation, little one," Starscream sighed. "Deactivation is the end of functioning."

"Oh..." The sparkling drooped. "Why?"

Starscream knew he should be annoyed, should be frustrated, and simply didn't find it within himself to be so. He could see so much of himself and Prowl, the quest they each had for knowledge in their own ways, in those innocent questions. Still, he sighed again and looked out the window. "It's simply how things are. When something has ended, it is over. No amount of wanting, wishing or need will change it. There is only grieving and moving on."

Dusklight stared up at him, then snuggled against his plating and looked back out the window. "I don't like that." 

"No one does, little one," Starscream whispered. "Trust me. No one does."

Dusklight sighed, laid his head against Starscream, and chirred quietly. "When will I deactivate?" 

"Not for a long time," Starscream said, rubbing the sparkling's back with a single finger. Dusklight purred and arched, tiny frame pressing into the warmth of another's plating. 

"So I can help you not be sad," he said. "Me and carrier and carrier's trine and carrier's carrier's trine. Okay?" 

Starscream pressed his free hand to his mouth, wings shuddering as he tried to stay composed. Finally he managed to force a smile. "Okay," he whispered, and looked out the window with the sparkling.


End file.
